Ghost Nip
by love.ly.ish
Summary: It started as an accident, and evolved into an experiment. Now, it feels like an addiction - a disease. When team Phantom first stumbled upon the strange plant, they dubbed is 'Ghost-nip', as the effect it had on Danny in his ghost form reminded them of a cat on catnip. They couldn't have been farther from the truth. Pre-Phantom Planet
1. Intro

**Intro**

* * *

"C'mon, Danny!" Tucker yelled, the heat of the fight wearing on the dynamic trio. "I've only got one more on my radar, then we can be done for tonight, ok?"

Danny wiped a bit of pale green 'sweat', if you could even call it that, from his forehead, eyebrows furrowing up at his best friend as he struggled to his feet. "Yeah, that's what you said an hour ago..."

"I know you're tired, we're all tir—" Sam started, her hand hovering over Danny's shoulder.

"No! You're not tired!" Danny yelled, the air around him heating up with a faint green energy. Sam immediately pulled her hand away, looking at her friend with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just mean—"

"You just mean you think you're tired. This...it's like these damn ghosts are working me to my core. I swear, if there's any more, I..." Danny yelled, only to let his shoulders drop, his knees hitting the ground once again. "I'm sorry. It's just too much..." his voice quivered against his will at the end.

"No, you're right," Sam knelt next to him, this time placing her hand tightly on his shoulder. Danny leaned into her touch, his heavy head resting on her shoulder. "Tuck, if there's anymore after this, we'll get to them tomorrow, alright? He can't help anyone if he's dead."

"But—" Tucker began, still looking down at his PDA before looking up and seeing what state Danny was in at the moment. "Yeah," he sighed, "you're right. Just this one last one, then we're done for the night. I'm sorry, buddy..."

"Yeah, whatever. Just...I..." Danny signed, removing his head from Sam's shoulder and looking at her with a pleading look.

"You need help up. It's ok, we all do sometimes," Sam smiled at Danny with kind eyes, lacing her hand under his arm and helping him to his feet.

"Thanks. Now, let's go get that last ghost and call it quits," Danny's aura flashed a brilliantly toxic green once more before he took off into the air, his friends following close behind from the ground.

* * *

The last ghost was easy enough to catch - another ectopus, the third of the night. Danny, still a little high on the win, let himself float easily to the ground, ignoring the green sweat dripping down the sides of his face.

"All I'm a night's work, my dudes," he said, smiling as Sam and Tucker both groaned at his word choice. "Now, let's get out of here before I attract another hoard or something."

Danny took about two steps forward before freezing in his place. Instantly, the rest of the world faded from around him. His eyes dilated, head going fuzzy and hearing fading in and out. He stumbled a couple of steps, trying to keep his footing before ultimately collapsing into Tucker's arms, who dropped his PDA to catch his friend.

"Woah, dude, are you ok?" Tucker asked, struggling to hold Danny somewhat upright as the half ghost sank deeper into his grip.

"I, uh..." Danny struggled to speak, the world spinning rapidly around him. "I don't, uh..."

"Tucker, look," Sam pointed down some ground cover at Danny's feet.

"Ok, Sam, I get plants are your thing or whatever, but now's really not the time," Tucker retorted, shifting Danny's dead weight in his arms uneasily.

"No, look, I think it's what's doing this to him," she knelt down to the ground, plucking the ghastly looking plant from the ground. The dark, forest green leaves wrapped almost protectively around the vibrant purple berries, which smoked the closer they were to Danny. The berries seemed to ooze a violent violet light.

"Oh man, you're right! Quick, grab my spare thermos from my duffle bag, maybe that'll, uh, wake him up I guess," Tucker motioned towards his bag, which he'd also dropped to catch Danny.

Sam grabbed the spare thermos, scooping up the rest of the berries and sealing them in. Immediately, the glow and smoke went away, and both Sam and Tucker looked at Danny expectantly, waiting for him to snap out of it. After a few moments, it was clear he wasn't going to wake up right away, as his eyes fluttered open and closed with obvious effort.

"What…are we supposed to do?" Sam asked, taking a step closer to them as Tucker knelt to the ground and laid Danny down carefully. She touched his face hesitantly, only to flinch back right away.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"He's burning up…" Sam rubbed her chipped black nail polish nervously. Usually when Danny was in his ghost form, he was ice cold.

Danny groaned, startling both Sam and Tucker. He opened his eyes, looking briefly at them as if he wanted to say something, only to let them close again. Before either of the other two teens could react, his transformation dropped, leaving Danny in his human form. Sam inched closer, grabbing his hand and looking down at him with her brows furrowed.

"What do you think is going on?" Tucker asked in a whisper, as if afraid to wake his friend.

"I don't know, but I think we should get him home before he gets any worse," Sam said, brushing some of his hair away from his face. As soon as she pulled her now sweat covered hand away from her face, her chest fell. "Oh, Danny…"

Tucker looked between Sam and Danny, his gaze catching on Sam's expression. "He'll be alright. It's Danny! He's always alright, you know?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed, "I know. Here, I'll grab his arms if you wanna get his legs, and we'll carry him to the Fentons'."

"Why do I always get the feet?" Tucker groaned, getting up and moving to his legs as Sam stood up and grabbed him under his arms.

"You know what? Just grab him," Sam teased back, though the glance she sent Tucker showed she was thankful for the attempt to lighten the mood.

* * *

Danny slowly opened his eyes before they shot open, his heart racing. He sat up, looking around him and trying to figure out where he was and what was happening. Looking around, he realized he was in his room and allowed himself to relax a bit. Before he could think to do anything else, he felt a hand grab his and squeeze lightly. He turned to his left, finding Sam next to him.

"Hey. How're you feeling?" Sam asked, her eyes intensely locked on his. He knew her well enough to know that she was really worried but trying to hide it. With a start, Danny realized it was probably for his own sake.

"I…I actually feel great," Danny smiled.

"You feel…" Sam trailed off, head cocking to the side in confusion.

"Great!" Danny said. "It's like I had the best sleep of my life, actually. What…what happened?"

"Danny," Sam started slowly, "you were unconscious. It was…we were really worried. Tucker only just went home when your fever broke, but…it was really bad. You're sure you're ok? You're not just saying you're fine?"

Danny looked down at his arms, flexing his forearms hesitantly. For the first time he could remember, he wasn't sore anywhere. His vision was clearer, and his ears weren't ringing, as they usually would whenever he woke up from a long night of ghost hunting. "No, I'm really good. Actually, better than I have been in a long time…seriously, what happened last night?"

Sam gulped, pulling her hand away from Danny's worriedly. Immediately, he missed her warmth. "What do you remember?"

"Well, we just finished up getting the last ghost of the night, and then…" Danny's brows furrowed. "And then nothing."

"Well, we think it was this plant you passed by. It was smoking, but only around you. You passed out, and you were burning up, and it was…really scary, Danny. You're positive you feel alright?" Sam asked, rubbing her nails and biting her lower lip.

"I am, I do I mean, um, I feel fine," Danny said, checking himself once more. "I feel amazing, actually. I don't know what that stuff did, but…"

"Ok, don't tell me you actually think that stuff…that _thing_ made you feel better. You realize that's crazy, don't you?"

Danny looked at Sam, wanting to grab her hand again. That thought made him blush as he turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know, I guess. I just don't get the big deal."

"The big deal?" Sam asked, her mouth hanging agape. She opened and closed it a few times before crossing her arms and huffing. "I thought…we thought…"

"Yeah?" Danny asked, looking at her expectantly.

"Ok, you know what? Never mind. Tucker's got the thermos with whatever the hell that stuff is in it. Since you're feeling so great, I'll just leave you to it, how does that sound?" she got up, walking towards his bedroom door.

"Oh, Sam, come on—" Danny got up, reaching out to grab her but failing as she turned around angrily.

"Look, we…_I_ thought you were going to die. For good, this time. Maybe if you could get your head out of your ass long enough to see that you were really sick, you'd get that." With that, Sam left the room, slamming the door with a thud and storming down the stairs.

Danny had half a mind to follow her, but he knew better. Sam needed some time, and honestly, so did he. There was something about that plant that made him, in that moment, feel amazing. His mind began to race with the possibility of what this meant. Could Danny do better, for his home? For his family? His friends? If there was even a chance he could do better — be better — he had to risk it. Even if it meant he might die, for good this time, he had to risk it for them.

* * *

_**Hi all! This is just the introduction - the chapters are going to be quite a bit longer. I've already got the next on typed out, but I'm gonna wait until I have chapter 2 written to post it, just so I can stay somewhat consistent on uploads. It won't take longer than a week, though I feel like it'll only be a few days or so, so keep your eye out for an update!**_

_**Anyways, what do you think? It's an idea I've been toying with for a while now, and I really like the direction I'm taking it in now.**_

_**Please leave a review to let me know! I read ever one and they all mean the world to me :)**_

_**Thanks, and I'll see you all next upload!**_

_**~Ash**_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Ok, so check this out," Danny said, transforming into his ghostly form for the fifth time this training session and zooming around his parents' lab once more. Tucker held the speedometer up to him again, looking at it skeptically.

"Wh- woah," Tucker gasped, reading the number as Danny floated down beside him.

"What is it?" Danny asked, his aura flaring in anticipation.

"It says…you went five hundred and seventeen miles an hour! That's, like, double what you were going last week! What are you doing different, dude?" Tucker asked, looking at Danny with his mouth hanging open.

"You really wanna know?" Danny asked, his aura darkening slightly as his feet touched the ground.

"Um, yeah?" Tucker let out an uneasy laugh, lowering the speedometer and looking at Danny skeptically.

"It was that plant, Tuck. I swear, something about that made me…" Danny looked down at his hand as he squeezed them shut, green energy radiating around him effortlessly.

"Oh, uh…" Tucker looked at Danny with wide eyes, mouth agape as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how.

"I know, it looked really bad the other night and everything, but maybe…I don't know. Maybe it's worth looking in to."

"Worth looking in to…you don't actually mean trying _that_ again?" Tucker asked, straightening up defensively.

"Well—"

"Dude, do you even remember what that stuff did to you?"

"Yeah, Tuck, I do," Danny sighed, letting his hands fall to his sides. "I just think, I don't know, maybe if I just expose myself to a little less, it might help me perform better."

Tucker sighed, shaking his head and glancing back at the speedometer. "Ok. Maybe…but not like last time. And before we even think about doing anything, you've gotta get Sam on board, alright?"

"What? Sam, she's totally, uh, she'll be, um…" Danny stammered, looking up at Tucker's knowing look. "Yeah, yeah alright. You're right, I'll talk to her."

"Thank you. Now, c'mon, let's see if you can do any cool tricks," Tucker said, holding up the speedometer at Danny and laughing with his best friend.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Sam said, crossing her arms defensively.

"Oh, c'mon Sam, it'll be different this time!" Danny pleaded, walking next to his friend in the halls of Casper High as she picked up her pace.

"Yeah, ok, let me think about it. No," she retorted with a half laugh, rounding a corner and forcing Danny to jog to keep up.

"You don't even have classes this way— Sam!" Danny called after her, finally catching up as she met a dead end.

"Look, I just don't get it. You should be happy you're alive and leave it at that," Sam turned back to Danny, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"And I am! But what if all of that just happened because I was exposed to too much? What if this could be the turning point from struggling to keep up to, I don't know, getting ahead for once! Shouldn't I take that risk?" Danny said, running his hand through his hair as he spoke.

Sam looked down at the ground, arms tightening around herself. "Danny..."

"I know...I—" Danny looked around him, making sure nobody else was there. Upon realizing it was just the two of them, he inched towards her, grabbing her hands in his. Sam looked up at him, a deep blush rushing across her face, and Danny could feel his own face mimicking her's. "I just want to protect everyone. Tuck, Jazz, mom and dad, and...and _you_, Sam. I want to protect you, but I don't know what else to do. I keep slipping, and this might help me get my footing."

Sam leaned in towards Danny as he spoke, her eyes fluttering between his lips and his eyes. Before she could think to respond, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against her's, and she felt herself sigh and lean into his touch.

"I just...don't know what I'd do if there I failed and there was something that could've helped. I don't know what I'd do...without you..." Danny breathed the words, letting them fall just inches from Sam's lips.

"Oh, Danny," Sam sighed, eyes closed as she bit her lip. "I know you're worn out, but there have to be other ways..."

"And if there aren't?"

Sam sighed, taking a small step back to allow for the tiniest bit of space between them. Danny looked up at her with those big, blue, somewhat disappointed eyes. "Ok..."

"Really?" Danny asked, hands grabbing her's a little tighter as a small smile crossed his lips.

"Do you really wanna ask me again?" Sam chuckled lightly, looking down at their interlocked hands and rubbing one of her thumbs over his slightly bruised knuckles. She knew all this ghost hunting had taken it's toll on him, not only physically, but mentally — emotionally, even. He was burning out, and Sam was afraid that if she didn't agree to whatever he wanted in that moment, he might just be gone for good. That thought sent a shiver down her spine, and she felt her hands leaving his instinctively.

"I, uh, thank you," Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, smiling at her with those eyes — those damn puppy dog eyes he had to know she couldn't resist.

"Oooh, goth girl and one of her geeks are over here making out!" Paulina's voice echoed down the hallway, grabbing both Sam and Danny's attention. She held her brand new phone out in front of her, taking pictures as the two quickly moved away from one another, suddenly aware of just how close they had been standing.

"Were not, you stuck up little—" Sam clenched her fists, rearing up towards the popular girl.

"C'mon Sam, she's not worth it," Danny smiled sweetly at her, grabbing her hand and dragging them out of the dead end. Sam found herself laughing as they passed Paulina, a glare settling on the popular girl's face as a result.

"You're right, totally not worth it," Sam spat that in her face as they passed, running down the hall towards the class they both shared next.

* * *

"Ok, so walk me through this again?" Danny asked, looking down at the examination table Sam and Tucker had set up with straps.

"Well, since we still don't know what's going to happen, we thought we should be safe than sorry," Tucker explained, looking down at his PDA. "You'll be strapped down to make sure you don't do anything dangerous, and I'll have all your vitals hooked up to my PDA, so if anything goes wrong we can track it before it gets out of hand."

Danny ran his white gloved hand over the straps, looking back at Sam pleadingly. "Is this all really necessary?"

"Hey, this wasn't even my idea! Tucker came up with all the precautions, and I think they're a good idea," she smiled at him teasingly, though Danny could see the hint of worry she was trying to hide behind her faux confidence.

"Yeah, ok," Danny relented, floating up and onto the table. "Strap me up, boys!"

"Jeez, you're so annoying," Sam rolled her eyes at him, walking forward and fastening the straps around his chest and legs while Tucker attached sensors to his temples and down his neck. "You doing alright?"

"My PDA says he's tense," Tucker said, still not looking up from his device.

"Wow, I wonder why..." Danny rolled his eyes, straining against the straps lightly. He steadied his breath, pushing thoughts of the other times he'd been strapped up like this from his mind. This was different. This time it was Sam and Tucker, not someone trying to hurt him; they'd never hurt him.

"You'll be alright. Tucker and I will be right here, and we won't let anything happen to you," Sam stepped towards Danny, grabbing his hand and smiling when he laced his fingers through her's.

"Thanks..." he blushed, keeping eye contact with her.

"Alright! We should be ready to go!" Tucker said loudly, and to Danny's dismay, Sam stepped back and released her grip from his hand.

"Ok, go ahead and bring it out," Danny's face set in determination with those words, pushing all other thoughts aside.

With that, Tucker turned towards a table on the other side of the Fenton's lab, grabbing the thermos with the plant in it. Shooting Sam one last glance, he slowly opened it up and brought out a single glowing purple berry. His eyes flew between Danny and his PDA as he inched towards the examination table.

Immediately, Danny's eyes dilated, shifting quickly between the berry, Tucker, and Sam, who was standing right next to him at that point. He gulped, taking a deep breath and inadvertently breathing in more of the smoke coming off of the plant. With that breath, everything went fuzzy as the lab around him started to spin. Tucker, upon hearing his PDA beep a few times, quickly put the plant back in the thermos, fastening the top quickly before looking back at the readings.

"What's going on?" Danny heard Sam ask, though he couldn't focus his vision on anything as the world around him rocked like a boat.

"His body temperature is back to when he's detransformed, but otherwise he's fine..." Tucker breathed out.

"Yeah, I'm fiiiiiine, Sam," Danny turned towards her direction, eyes spinning as he tried to focus on her.

"Are you sure? How are you feeling?" Sam almost grabbed his hand again, but held herself back.

"I'm feeling..." Danny smiled goofily, eyes roaming the lab in an unfocused manner, "...good."

"Yeah?" Sam's voice came into his mind again.

"Yeah," Danny laughed, trying to pull his hands behind his head only to find them restrained. "Why are..._Spectra_?" the words slipped from his lips as he looked around, suddenly tense.

"He's getting anxious," Tucker reported, a few more clicks and beeps coming from his PDA.

"Danny, Spectra's not here. You're alright, it's just Tucker and I, remember?" Sam said soothingly, this time grabbing his hand. Instantly, Danny felt himself calm down, though he still couldn't find a point to focus on.

"She's evil, you know," Danny sighed, trying to move closer to Sam in spite of the restraints.

"Yeah, I know. But she's not here right now. You're alright. You're here with Tucker and I."

"Oh. Then why can't I move?" Danny asked the air around Sam, writhing in the table uneasily.

"It's just a precaution," Tucker said, this time moving towards Danny with his PDA down at his side.

"I don't like it," Danny spat. "Let me try something," he shook Sam's hand out of his, closing his eyes for a moment in concentration. Focusing on phasing out of the straps, he felt himself float above the table, electricity coursing through his veins for a moment before disappearing.

"Oh my— Danny! Wha- how- what are you doing?!" Sam called, and when Danny opened his eyes, he was floating in a lounging position above the examination table. From farther away, he could finally focus on one point, and that point was Sam.

"I didn't want to be strapped down," Danny said goofily, smiling and giggling. He looked back at the table, pointing at it strictly, the same way he did when scolding Kujo. "Bad table!"

"Ok, dude, how did you do that?!" Tucker asked, looking up at Danny with excitement. "Those were ghost proof! To phase through those without feeling anything, you would have had to produce more power than I've seen in any ghost, like ever!"

"Oh! Cool! I'm power man!" Danny floated up in a super hero position, chuckling before devolving into a laughing mess, floating around the lab lazily as he calmed himself down.

"Tucker, you have to get him back down here! This can't me safe..." Sam's voice trailed off uneasily.

"He seems like he's alright, actually. Now that he's moving around, his temperature is back to normal and his levels are within a normal range," Tucker explained.

"Yeah, Sam, my levels are level!" Danny tried to explain pointing to Tucker as if he was proof of his nonsense.

"That's not— ok, sure buddy," Tucker laughed at his friend as he floated around the lab some more.

"So he...Danny's ok?" Sam asked nervously.

"I'm good," Danny sighed, floating back down to the ground and laying down with his arms behind his head. "I'm just chillin!"

"I mean, yeah, he should be good," Tucker explained. "It looks like in moderation, the effects are like a sedative if sorts, except for all the extra electricity he's producing which is just...amazing."

"I'm amazing! High five!" Danny held his hand out into the air, not talking to anyone in particular.

"He's kinda funny, like a cat on catnip," Sam giggled from the other side of the room, making her way towards her loopy friend.

"Chillin like a kitten, my dudes!" Danny sighed, looking around the still-spinning room. "Come on and sit with me, the view is beautiful!"

"The view?" Tucker asked jokingly, moving towards the center of the lab where his friend was laying.

"The lab! It's spinning! C'mon, lay down and you'll see," Danny tried to explain, pointing around the nearly empty lab. Both Sam and Tucker sat down next to him, watching his eyes bolt about the room.

"You sure you're ok?" Sam asked hesitantly, putting her hand next to him in a sort of silent invitation.

Danny laced his fingers through her's, turning to her and smiling goofily. "I'm great! Even better now you're here..."

"Oh..." Sam felt a deep blush creep up her neck, a small smile accompanying it.

"Get a room, you two," Tucker teased, elbowing Danny jokingly. "But really, you're good, dude?"

"I'm gooooood," Danny smiled, his fluttering open and closed lazily. "I'm just...tired...is all..."

"You can take a nap, if you'd like," Sam said, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Maybe I, uh, will," Danny let his head slump against the concrete ground. "I just...I tired..."

"Yeah?" Tucker asked, laughing a bit under his breath as Danny's head flopped in his direction.

"Yeah..." and with that final word, Danny's eyes closed, his breath slowing as he fell asleep.

* * *

_**Well, that's chapter 1! What do you all think? I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this fic! I especially appreciate the reviews - they make me so happy :)**_

_**Also, just a heads up, I've had a burst of creative energy and have already written this story through chapter 4. They keep getting progressively shorter, but I anticipate chapter 5 will be when things really spice up, so stay tuned. Really, though, I tell you all this to let you know that I'll be updating really often - I'm thinking every other day, at least for a while. I'm so excited to get on such a regular updating schedule, and I hope you're all excited too!**_

_**Let me know what you like, don't like, or are just curious about in the reviews! I read all of them and they keep me writing (honestly, I see one and I feel the need to drop whatever I'm doing and keep writing, lol)**_

_**Until next time, my dudes :)**_

_**~Ash**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Please pass yesterday's homework to the front, class," Mr. Lancer droned from the front of the classroom, the class responding with a few groans, and a couple of '_Oh shit_'s.

"What excuse are you going for today? I'm saying my cat ate my homework," Tucker said, yawning and stretching after a long night of ghost hunting just the night prior.

"Tucker, you don't even have a cat," Sam whispered, rubbing her eyes and accidentally smearing her thick eyeliner all over her face.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better," Tucker hissed his response, looking over to Danny. "What about you?"

"I've got mine," Danny pulled out his typed out homework, laying it on his desk and smiling at his friends as they stared at him in awe.

"Dude…how?!" Tucker asked, smiling at his best friend.

"I don't know. After we got home last night I just had a lot of energy and thought I'd be productive."

"Danny Fenton? Productive? I thought I'd never see the day," Sam scoffed, smiling at her friend.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I just wanted to try something different, like not failing school for a change. Might be a good idea to focus on my future for once," Danny smirked, straightening his homework on his desk.

"Ok, that's all good and everything, but we didn't finish last night until two in the morning. Did you sleep at all?" Sam asked, her amusement fading for a moment and worry painting her face.

"Oh, yeah..I wasn't really all that tired. Weird, right? I'm still not tired, so at least I'm not falling asleep right now," Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Wait, so you didn't sleep? Like…at all?" Tucker asked, all humor gone.

"Nah, I really didn't need to," Danny shrugged, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. "It's not a big deal; people pull all nighters all the time, ya know?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to Danny. "How…how much have you slept since that experiment?" Tucker asked, the worry evident in his eyes. Immediately, Danny stiffened up, sensing the shift in tone.

"I—"

"Mr. Fenton, would you care to share what you're talking about with the class?" Mr. Lancer asked, walking up to the trio with a hand full of collected homework.

"Uh, no, I'm good. Here's my homework, though," Danny handed his homework to Mr. Lancer, smiling brightly at the teacher's shocked expression.

"Your homework? Hmm…looks like it's fully typed, has internal citations, and meets the MLA requirements…" Mr. Lancer flipped through the printed assignment, eyes lighting up. "Well done, Mr. Fenton! You all could learn a lesson from him. Now, please pull out your textbooks and start reading the short story on page 547. We will be discussing it for the next week, so read carefully!"

And with that, Danny ignored his friends' hot glare on him and opened his textbook, deciding to focus on school rather than his friends for the first time in his life.

* * *

"I don't know, but something isn't right…" Sam murmured to Tucker as they walked down the hall behind Danny.

"I can hear you, you know…" Danny sighed, stopping at his locker and opening it with ease. "And there's nothing wrong with me! I feel great! Amazing, actually!"

"But—" Tucker started.

"Look, last night we took down way more ghosts than we usually do, and I still got my homework done. If you ask me, that's a win. I don't get what the big deal is," Danny shuffled through his locker, putting away his English textbook and pulling out his math binder.

"The big deal is that you didn't sleep and you're not even tired. How many glasses of coffee have you had? Or haven't you had any? Danny, this isn't normal…" Sam said, watching as Danny effortlessly pulled a few more heavy books from his locker, balancing them like they were nothing.

"It's not a big deal!" Danny shoved the books into his backpack, slamming his locker in the process.

"It is a big deal," Tucker breathed, grabbing Danny's arm. "It's been three days since the experiment. How much have you slept?" he asked with an intensity Danny hadn't seen from him before.

Danny looked Tucker in the eyes, trying to hold his gaze before ultimately failing and looking down at his shoes. "I don't know. Not at all, I don't think…"

"Danny!" Sam gasped, grabbing his other arm with a steely grip. "What do you mean you haven't slept?"

"I just mean I haven't been tired, ok?!" Danny snapped, both Tucker and Sam's hands leaving his arms. He looked back at them, suddenly feeling bad for startling his friends. "Look, I'm sorry, I just…I don't know why we're treating this like a bad thing. If I'm supposed to live this double life, it's pretty much impossible to find time to sleep anyways. This isn't a problem — it's a _solution_."

"I don't know…this doesn't feel right," Sam sighed, pulling her arms around herself tightly. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I- I won't, I promise. I just need to be better, and maybe this is how…" Danny reached out to grab Sam's hand, but she turned away, looking down at the ground.

"Yeah, whatever. Just…leave me out of it from now on, ok?" Before Danny or Tucker could respond, she turned away and walked quickly down the hall towards her next class, which she had separate from the boys anyways. Danny watched her go, his spirits dropping as she rounded the corner.

"Hey, don't worry. She'll be alright. She's just worried about you — we both are. But if you say you're alright, I believe you. And Sam will come around sooner or later," Tucker reassured, smiling at Danny as his gaze met his own.

"Yeah, ok. We should probably get going, we're gonna be late," Danny closed his locker, smiling at Tucker thankfully and walking towards their next class.

* * *

Sam sat on her bed, a black rag under her feet as she painted her toenails a deep black color. She'd just finished her fingers, and needed something to keep her mind from racing. Just as she was finishing her last toe on her left foot, she heard a gentle tap on her window. Quickly capping the nail polish, she turned over her shoulder to see none other than Danny in his ghost form, floating just outside her window. She rolled her eyes, motioning for him to come in. The half ghost phased through her window, hovering above the ground for a few moments before letting his feet brush the floor.

"Hey," Danny smiled, his white teeth glowing slightly due to his ghost powers. He almost looked like a god in that moment, and Sam had to clear her throat and look away to keep her thoughts from wandering.

"Hey. What's up? Is everything ok?" Sam shifted her attention back to Danny, smiling sweetly at him.

"Yeah, everything with me is alright…I just hope everything with us is too," Danny gently floated over to her bed, detransforming and landing on the edge in human form. He pushed a few black strands of hair from his face, smiling at her nervously.

"Oh. Yeah, I think so…sorry about earlier, I just worry, you know?" Sam shifter her gaze awkwardly back to her toes, then back to him. "It sounds so shallow, but painting my nails helps me calm down. Jeez, I sound like I could be Paulina, don't I?" She chuckled lightly.

"No! That's not silly…" Danny wrung his hands awkwardly, laughing nervously. "If you ever run out of nails to paint, I've got twenty more right here," he wiggled his fingers in front of him.

Sam eyed his fingers, chuckling under her breath. "Really? You don't actually mean that."

"Really?" Danny scooted closer to her, holding out his hands. "Try me."

Sam smiled at him, grabbing the rag out from under her tacky toenails and setting it under his hands. "Here, put them down on this, so I don't stain my bed any more."

"Any more?" Danny asked, looking around the bed.

"Ok, it was a long time ago and I think I got all the nail polish out, but it was damn hard and I don't want to do it again," Sam chuckled, grabbing the black nail polish and shaking it for a few moments before opening up the bottle. "You sure you want me to paint your nails?"

"Go ahead," Danny smiled at her, swiping some hair out of his face one more time before laying his hands down on the rag.

"Ok, so if you don't like it, you don't have to keep it on. But this is my favorite formula — my grandma gave it to me because she uses is on herself when she wants to piss my parents off, so I think you'll like it…" Sam trailed off, painting the polish carefully on Danny's right hand thumb.

"Man, your grandma's the best," Danny chuckled, watching Sam's intensity as she continued painting.

"Yeah, I just wish my parents would take a page from her book, ya know?"

"Hey, I get it. At least your parents don't want to kill you."

"Sometimes it feels like it," Sam sighed, moving on to the next finger. "Like, the other day, they raided my room for my eyeliner and eyeshadow. Luckily, I keep it hidden under the floorboards, but still. It's like no matter what I do, I'm always disappointing them, you know?"

Danny watched Sam's face twist with worry as she moved on to the next finger, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I don't know. That really sucks. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. Besides, you've got your own problems to deal with, like your murderous parents and Jazz always trying to psychoanalyze you. How annoying…"

Danny chuckled under his breath, drawing Sam's attention from his hands to his face. "Wow, we sure have some messed up lives, huh?"

Sam smiled, turning back to his hands and continuing with the next finger. "I swear, it's crazy. But at least we have each other," with one final stroke, she finished Danny's right hand, brushing her knuckles against his bruised ones, now fading to a dull purple and yellow.

"Uh…" Danny started awkwardly.

"And Tucker, I mean. Like, you know, Team Phantom and everything," Sam recovered, moving on to Danny's left hand and trying to push her growing blush back.

"Well if we're talking about Team Phantom, I guess we'd have to add Jazz to that list," Danny said, laughing nervously as he watched Sam's concentration grow, he blush fading by the second.

"Don't remind me. You know, if we ever do another '_experiment_', we'll have to invite her, or she might feel left out. She's so weird."

"O- Oh…" Danny stammered, watching as sam finished his left thumb and moved on to the next finger. "So we're doing another experiment with that plant, then?"

Sam froze in her tracks, the nail polish brush hovering over Danny's left index finger. "Um, I don't know…but if you and Tucker decide that's what you're going to do, I guess I have to support you…" she continued painting his nails uneasily, biting her lip nervously.

"I don't know, I mean…this could be big…" Danny trailed off, watching Sam move on to the next nail hastily.

"Ok. Cool, whatever. You know what's best for you, I guess…" Sam continued, finishing his middle nail and moving on a little too quickly.

"I don't want to worry you, I just…need something to stay ahead…to stay afloat I guess…" Danny went on, watching as Sam's brush strokes slowed once more, a sigh escaping her lips.

"I know. You feel like you're drowning, and I'm sorry for that," she finished and moved on to his left pinky, only laying down two strokes before capping the black nail polish again. "I just don't think this is the right way to deal with it."

Danny looked at Sam, their eyes meeting with an intensity between the two of them. "How else, then?"

Sam's gaze dropped to her hands. "I don't know…"

The two teens sat in silence for a few moments, the only noise being the large grandfather clock just outside of Sam's room.

"I…think I should go…" Danny said, pushing himself up from Sam's bed and transforming into his ghost form. Sam looked up, offering him a small smile.

"Ok. I'lll see you tomorrow?" she asked, eyes studying the uneasy look on his face.

"Well, duh. Thank's for the manicure, by the way," Danny let his guard down for a moment and winked at her, flashing those glowing white teeth before flying out of the window, becoming a shooting star in the dark night sky.

* * *

_**Here's a little light fluff for you all to transition into the real conflicts coming up! What do you all think? Is Sam right, or does she need to loosen up a little? Let me know by leaving a review - I read all of them and they really do mean a lot to me!**_

**_Also, I'm moving along with this story pretty quick. I did get a review asking about the horror side of things (which I'm so thankful for btw!) and I just want to let everyone know that this is my first horror story, so I'm not gonna be the best at it, but the horror aspects are really going to start at about Chapter 5. I'm actually so excited about it, because I think it's coming out a lot better than I expected, so stay tuned!_**

**_Anyways, I'm sticking to the every other day update schedule for a while, which I'm also excited about. Make sure to favorite, follow, and review! They all mean the world to me. Until next time, my dudes._**

**_~Ash_**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Danny turned up his music a few notches, continuing to type away at his homework assignment. It had been almost a week since the experiment with the plant, and do his friends' dismay, he still hadn't needed to sleep. Sam had given him some melatonin, which did nothing, and Tucker tried to tire him out with training, which only seemed to give him more energy. Luckily for Danny, he wasn't having any problems with that side effect. Actually, he still felt great, as if someone had switched him 'on' and forgotten to switch him off. Unluckily for Danny, his friends disagreed with his assessment, and had gotten Jazz involved, which meant that if his timing was right, she'd be in his room any moment to check up on him, as she had been doing the last few days.

"Hey Danny, I just wanted to stop by before I went to bed," Jazz's voice came from just outside his door, eliciting a groan from the teen as he got up and opened the bedroom door.

"I'm alright, Jazz. You don't have to worry about me, you know," Danny sighed, giving her a small smile through tight lips.

"I know you say you're fine, but a lack of sleep can do a lot to the human body," Jazz commented, looking past Danny and around his room skeptically.

"Yeah, ok…well I'm not totally human, so I should be ok. Goodnight!" Danny tried to close the door, only for his sister to put her foot in it, opening it up and stepping into his room.

"Wow…have you been cleaning? It looks really neat in here," Jazz asked, looking around her and back at Danny with a mildly impressed look on her face.

"Look, I'll tell you what I've been telling Sam and Tuck all week — I've just been in a productive mood, that's all. It's not that big of a deal, you know," Danny grumbled, tidying his homework before turning back to his sister.

Jazz sighed, taking a seat on Danny's bed and patting the space next to her in a silent invitation. When Danny just stared back at her, she smiled sadly, crossing her legs and settling in for a moment. "We're all just worried about you."

"Ok," Danny scoffed, shrugging the concern off.

"Ok, so maybe don't do another test with that _thing_, then," Jazz said, her gaze locking on Danny's with severe intensity.

"I— I never told you I was going to," Danny said defensively.

"Yeah, and you never said you won't. I know Tucker's on board with whatever you wanna do — after all, this is the scientific discovery of a lifetime, isn't it?" Jazz asked, her gaze staying on Danny. "I know Sam will go along with whatever you two do, even if it's just to keep you safe. What I'm saying is that you need to stop this. _Now_."

Danny sighed, looking down at his bare feet before looking sadly back up at Jazz. "You don't get it, do you?"

Jazz's intense state wavered at those words, her head shaking uneasily. "Don't get...?"

"You don't get what it's like to do the superhero thing, or to be whatever I am. It's exhausting, Jazz, and I think I just found a way to make it less exhausting. Don't you think I should pursue it?" Danny pleaded, eyes watering against his will.

"Oh, Danny," Jazz lurched forward, on her way to getting up, no doubt to give him a hug.

"Look, save it," Danny wiped his eyes, opening the door and motioning for Jazz to leave. "Just let me do what I need to, ok?"

Jazz's shoulders slumped, her gaze shifting between the door and her little brother. With a sigh, she pushed herself off of his bed, walking towards Danny and kissing him on the forehead tenderly. "I love you, little brother."

"Love you too," Danny mumbled as Jazz left his room, closing the door tightly behind her.

* * *

"So we're skipping the table this time," Danny clarified, looking around his parents' lab once more as Tucker continued to set up for the next experiment with the mystery plant the trio had dubbed 'Ghost Nip'.

"Yep! No table, no restraints, just a little exposure and some more readings, I'm thinking. Unless you have any ideas?" Tucker looked up, wearing a pair of Mrs. Fenton's goggles. Danny laughed, eliciting a frown from Tucker.

"Dude, you look so funny. Those are my mom's," Danny continued to laugh, watching as Tucker took them off defensively.

"Ok, we'll they're good for welding, so I might just steal a pair from your mom, then," Tucker explained, cradling the goggles and sticking his tongue out a Danny mockingly.

"Whatever, but if you wear those to school, I'm sitting across the lunch room from you," Danny chuckled under his breath. Looking down at his crossed arms, he looked back up at Tucker, a hint of an idea in his blue eyes.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"Why don't we see what happens when I'm not transformed? Like, just me, you know?" Danny asked, spreading his arms as if to gesture to himself.

"Ok, now _that's_ an idea!" Tucker grinned, recalibrating his PDA with the sensors. "Let me just reconfigure a couple of things...ok! We should be set!"

"Ok, cool! So where are you keeping it?" Danny asked, looking around anxiously.

"Dude, I'm not telling you! We still have to figure out if it's addictive or not, and until we do, Sam or I will hold on to it," Tucker retorted, still looking down at his device. "But I'll bring it out when Sam gets here. Any word from her?"

Danny checked his phone, seeing no new messages or calls. "Nope. She's probably trying to get out of there without her parents noticing."

"Oh, that's right. I always forget she has to sneak out unless she wants to lie..." Tucker trailed off, finally looking up from his PDA for a moment before looking back down.

Before either of the boys could say or do anything else, the door slammed from upstairs, heavy boots cascading down the metal lab stairs.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, my parents were trying to plan a spa day for me..." Sam shivered as she said that, dropping her purple spider bag next to her. "But I'm here now! So what's up?"

"We're just getting started," Danny smiled, looking at Sam for a moment too long.

"Danny's gonna try it in human form," Tucker spoke up, breaking Danny's gaze away from Sam. Immediately, the goth girl frowned, looking between Danny and Tucker skeptically.

"Oh...ok, I guess that'll be different..." Sam's brows furrowed as she spoke, her gaze dropping Danny's face and turning to the ground.

"Hey, it'll be fine, ok? I'll let you guys know if anything goes wrong," Danny said, taking a step towards Sam and letting his hand brush her's before falling back to his side. Her gaze caught on his nails, still painted black, making her smile.

"Besides, I've got so many new sensors I ordered online, I'll be able to tell if literally anything happens," Tucker explained, tapping away on his PDA a couple more times. "Oh, and I should probably be hooking those up…" he walked towards Danny, hastily placing them on his temples, down his neck, and on his wrists before Danny could say anything more.

"Wow, thanks for the heads up, Tuck."

"Yeah, well it's getting late and my parents will be pissed if I miss curfew again," Tucker explained, tapping away a couple more times before turning his attention back to Danny and giving him the thumbs up. "All good!"

"Ok," Danny took a deep breath, looking at Sam and feeling his spirits drop a bit at her worried glance. "This'll be fine. Let's bring it out."

Danny straightened up a bit while Tucker turned around and grabbed the thermos from his duffle bag. Without even sparing him a look, Sam grabbed Danny's hand, squeezing it timidly, eyes still on the ground. By the time Tucker made his way over to the two, her hand was already back at her side, giving Danny a bit of emotional whiplash.

"Ok, well here goes nothing…" Tucker loosened the top of the thermos, grabbing one of the violet berries and holding it a ways away from Danny carefully. Immediately, the sickly sweet smell hit Danny's senses, the purple smoke wafting towards him. For the first few moments, Danny strangely didn't feel a thing, looking at Tucker awkwardly and shrugging with a nervous grin on his lips.

"I guess it doesn't do anything in my human…" Danny began, slowly trailing off as the words escaped him, his vision spinning like a laundry machine again. Slowly, he brought his hands into his vision as a sort of anchor. "Woah…"

"Ok, Tucker, put it away," Sam ordered from next to Danny.

"Hold on, his vitals are totally normal, let's give it another second," Tucker said, but Danny couldn't really focus on either of them in that moment.

This time around felt totally different than either of the other times he'd been exposed to the Ghost Nip — or whatever it was. He could see things that he rationally knew weren't there, like small green veins growing from his hands and encapsulating them. The moment he looked around the lab, it was covered in purple and forest green vines, shifting and growing with each of his heartbeats. And then, a split second later, he felt his heart stop. Like, _completely_ _stop_. It was like someone had ripped it from his chest, holding it outside of his understanding. He could hear a couple of worried beeps from Tucker's PDA, and Sam screamed something to the other teen, but again, Danny was far away from his friends in that moment. Instead, he fell to the ground, bracing himself with his hands and knees and watching the ground below him sprout a plethora of those violently colored berries.

"This…isn't real?" Danny asked no one in particular, letting himself fall and roll onto his back, watching the veiny vines sprout along the ceiling of his parents' lab. All he could think about was how mad his parents would be if they ever saw their lab like this.

Mumbled voices came from around Danny as he still searched for his heartbeat. It was strange, because as he couldn't feel his heart beating anymore, he could still feel his lungs filling with air and releasing it. His blood was still pumping through his veins, and he could still feel the warmth coming off of his body. But his heart…just wasn't there anymore.

Suddenly, as if tugging Danny out of a thick mist, Sam's face came into his view, hanging right above his own. Her words slurred together into nothingness, and each of her movements were blurred at the edges, but it was definitely her. Danny, in a sort of a trance, reached up to touch her lightly, only to hold himself back when he caught another glimpse of his hands. This time, they were bright green and scaly, like a demented lizard. He pulled his hand back again, holding it to his chest and feeling himself hyperventilate. Still, his heartbeat wasn't there. Sam placed her hands on his shoulders, and like a light switch, it turned his heart on again, the blood pumping rapidly in his ears.

"Danny? Danny! Snap out of it! Are you ok?" Sam's voice accompanied the blood that rushed to Danny's head, a migraine growing with it.

"I'm…" Danny blinked stiffly, his eyes burning with the lights of the lab. "Ugh, too bright…" he pulled an arm over his face, attempting to block out the light from around him.

"I've got the lights," Tucker's voice came from behind him, and then the light around him dimmed enough that he could open his eyes again.

"Hey, look at me, ok? Look at me. Not the ceiling, not the lab, just me, ok?" Sam said soothingly, one of her hands running through his own. Slowly, Danny opened his eyes, looking into Sam's deep purple ones.

"Yeah…ok…" he sighed, blinking slowly as the world around him continued to swirl. "I didn't…did you see…"

"No, we didn't see anything," Sam said softly, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What did _you_ see?"

Danny's mind raced back to his hands. He couldn't get those reptiles hands out of his head. "Monster…"

"You saw a monster?" Sam repeated back to him in the form of a question.

Danny shook his head, closing his eyes in an ill fated attempt to stop them from watering. "No…me…I'm the monster…"

The lab stayed too quiet for too long, allowing Danny's small whimper to echo quietly.

"Dude…no, you're not," Tucker's voice came from right next to Danny this time, though he refused to open his eyes.

Danny whined, bringing his arms tightly around his sides and turning on his side in a fetal position. "Just…I'm sorry…"

"Danny," Sam said softly, rubbing circles into his shoulder as Danny leaned in to her touch. "You're not a monster. I promise. We both do. You're ok now, ok? You're here, and so are we. That's all that's happening right now. It's just you and me and Tucker in your basement. That's where we are."

Danny let out a strangled sob, eyes still locked shut as he shuddered. No matter what his friends said, he couldn't get the image of himself adorned in scales out of his head. That's the thought he fell into dreamless sleep to just moments later.

* * *

**_Hey everyone! What do you think? This is where it really starts getting intense, and in only gets more so as we continue._**

**_I've written all the way through chapter 8, so again, we're not slowing down at all! I'm really excited for what's to come — I've even got some good horror coming up here soon :)_**

**_Anyways, please please continue to favorite, follow, and review! I especially appreciate the reviews — they always make my day._**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Sam had Danny's head on her lap, her fingers anxiously twisting through his sweaty hair as she watched his face scrunch in his sleep. The lab's lights were still off, but Danny had started giving off a sickly green glow, so she could see both him and Tucker from where she sat.

"His vitals are normal. He's gonna be alright," Tucker tried to assure her, though she didn't look up from his sleeping face for a moment.

"Mmh-hmm," Sam hummed, letting a small sigh escape her lips.

"Look, Sam, I think this was just because he wasn't transformed," Tucker explained, his voice a little too forceful for her taste.

"Sure," she relented, fingers still fiddling with Danny's thick dark hair.

"Can you look at me?"

Sam looked up, staring at Tucker with a severe intensity. "Yeah?"

Tucker gulped under her gaze. "I think we should keep going."

"Keep going…"

"With the experiments."

"Are you—" Sam raised her voice before looking down at a still sleeping Danny. "You can't be _serious_," she hissed.

"I just think this was a fluke, and it seems like regularly, this stuff might really be able to help him," Tucker started typing away on his PDA. "Like right now, he's stronger than he's ever been. Like…_ever_, Sam. This is huge."

"What about when his heart stopped?" Sam asked, dangerously serious. Tucker's eyes snapped up from his PDA at that, landing on his sleeping best friend.

"I— it happens sometimes when he's a ghost, so maybe…"

"No. No maybe's. This isn't right, and you know it. He should too, but he's just…" Sam looked back down at Danny's face, "…a little confused right now. But we're supposed to be his friends and look out for him. He needs us to stop this from getting worse."

"Sam, that's not really your decision to make," Tucker argues.

"Oh, really? It's not?" She hissed, eyes flickering to Tucker once more.

"I get it that you love him or whatever, but…" Tucker started, trailing off when he saw Sam's eyes shatter. "Or, I don't know, he's your _friend_ or…I don't know, uh…"

Sam looked back down at her '_friend_', eyes watering against her will. Did she really love him? It was hard to tell lately. She definitely felt something for him, though, and it was different than anything she'd ever felt for her other friends, like Tucker. Maybe…that really was love, but putting a label on it just twisted the dagger that was already in her heart.

"Yeah, ok, whatever…" she mumbled, her eyes moving down to Danny's painted nails. A small smile crept onto her face, her hand carefully tracing over his right index fingernail. Before either Sam or Tucker could do or say anything more, Danny groaned, arms wrapping around Sam's waist and nuzzling in to her side. Her heart throbbed as she watched him shudder, his eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids. "We should get him back up to his room. I'll take his feet this time," Sam looked up at Tucker, a hint of sad humor in her eyes.

* * *

The moment Danny's eyes opened, his entire body felt as if it had been injected with pure caffeine. He shot up in his bed, gasping for air before looking around his room. Next to him, Jazz lay slumped over his bed, and with a quick glance at the clock on his night stand, he realized that it was three in the morning. Upon closer examination, the shocking revelation that he'd slept for an entire day smacked him upside the head, sending him reeling. The last thing he remembered was Sam hovering over him and his hand…

Danny threw the covers off of himself, running to the bathroom down that hall and turning the light on in a hurry. Upon seeing his regular, non-scaly face, he let himself sigh before turning off the light and taking a few steps back towards his room. Before he could make it there, however, he was stopped by Jazz, who must have woken up when Danny was running to the bathroom.

"Danny," she grumbled groggily, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Uh, yeah, hi," he groaned from her steely grip, smiling as she nuzzled her face into his hair. He'd never admit it to her, but he secretly loved her bear hugs.

"You're alright," she pulled away, glaring at him halfheartedly. "You little shit, you can't do that to us!"

"Us…?"

"Oh, just me and Tucker and Sam. Mom and dad have been away at some pop up supernatural convention in Connecticut, so they don't know anything. Don't worry," Jazz winked at him, ruffling his hair and yawning widely.

"That's good…" Danny trailed off, his mind wandering to Sam. He could still see her face hovering over his, the only thing anchoring him to reality. "And Sam…and Tucker? They're not too worried, are they?"

"Well…Tucker is excited more than anything. Apparently you're super-charged or something, I don't know. Sam though…" Jazz trailed off, giving Danny a small grin. "She just cares a lot about you."

"O- oh?"

"Yeah, and it sounds like you do too," Jazz got close to Danny's ear. "You talk in your sleep, you know," she whispered.

"Oh!" Danny took a step back, face lit up red with a deep blush. "Jazz!"

"What?! It's true! You sound like you really…_care_ _about_ her…" her voice catching on the word '_care_' as if she wanted to say something else.

"Oh, I mean yeah…we're really good friends…" Danny sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and shuffling his feet below him.

"Yeah, ok. Well in the morning, you should give your _friend_," she winked, "a call. Her and Tucker want to hear from you as soon as you're up, but I doubt they'll be up right now."

"Ok, sounds good," Danny smiled at his sister, watching her stretch and yawn once again. "You should probably be headed to bed, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah, probably…" she trailed off, smiling tiredly at her brother. "But I'm glad you're all good. I'll see ya in the morning, little brother."

Jazz kissed him on the top if his head, brining a small smile to Danny's lips as she turned and went back to her room. "Yeah, love you too."

* * *

"I swear if you explode, it would be like a supernova or something at this point! I haven't seen anything like it, like, _ever_!" Tucker talked with a cafeteria spork in hand, inadvertently flinging food all over his friends.

"Ok, so maybe we could _not_ talk about me exploding?" Danny laughed nervously, grabbing Sam's arm and turning them intangible for half a second to get rid of the bits of Tucker's mystery meat school lunch.

"I second that," Sam said, turning to Danny and offering him a small smile. "I'm just glad you're alright. You were really out of it all day yesterday."

"He was charging!" Tucker continued to type away on his PDA before flashing both Sam and Tucker a screen full of fancy looking equations.

"Yeah…I don't know what any of that means, but we'll have to figure out what all this extra power can do for sure," Danny retorted, glancing down at his food uneasily before pushing it away, hoping his friends wouldn't notice.

"You're not hungry?" Sam asked, glancing between Danny's tray and his face.

"Oh, uh, I just don't want my first meal to be mystery meat from the cafeteria, you know?" Danny lied uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. In all reality, he just wasn't hungry, though he expected he would be later that night.

"I guess…" Sam took another bite of her sandwich skeptically before turning her attention back to Tucker. "So, with all this extra power—"

"Energy," Tucker interjected, still not looking up from his PDA, "like an electrical current."

"Yeah, whatever. So with all this extra energy," Sam corrected herself, rolling her eyes, "why don't you, I don't know, solve an energy crisis or two?"

"Because I still don't know if it's that kind of energy or not, or how to convert it. I am still an amateur, you know," Tucker smirked at his friend before hastily turning back to his PDA.

"That would be wicked, though," Danny smiled down at his hands. "Like, if I could actually make a bigger difference with my powers."

"We'll have to look into it during the next experiment," Tucker agreed, still not looking up from his work.

"Wait, what do you mean the next—" Sam started, only to be interrupted by the ground rumbling, sending a cascade of screams from their fellow classmates.

"We're gonna have to table that one for now," Danny stood up, scanning the area around him for a place to transform. Finding a small cluster of trees, he stepped behind them, yelling his signature 'going ghost!' before transforming into Danny Phantom. Upon seeing their local superhero, a few of the girls from their class pointed and gawked, the attention making Sam's blood boil for a split second before she managed to calm herself.

"There the halfa is," the familiar voice of Skulker came from behind the trio, causing Danny to turn around, coming eye to eye with the ghostly hunter.

"Skulker," Danny growled, his eyes turning a brighter shade of green for a moment. "What brings you around here today?"

"Just looking for another pelt to string up on my wall," Skulker's tone darkened at that, causing Danny to groan and roll his eyes.

"Really? This bullshit again?" Danny looked around to make sure his other classmates were all gone. "Do you really have to do this in the middle of the school day? I'd much rather kick your ass after school, you know."

"Vengeance waits for no one, ghost boy!" Skulker roared, an evil grin painting his face. "Now, come at me brother, as you humans say!"

Danny laughed, shaking his head. "If you say so!"

He reared up, flying towards Skulker at high speed and attempting to punch him in the gut. Just before his fist was about to connect, Skulker moved out of the way, eliciting a growl from Danny. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Skulker taunted, his face twisting into a cocky smirk.

"Oh, shut up!" Danny cried out, angrier than he usually got during these types of fights. He tried to come in with a kick this time, only for Skulker to grab his foot and swing him around into a tree, a sickening _thud_ reverberating through the ground. Danny groaned, getting up slowly and looking down at his hands, which were smoking that same violent shade of purple. Pushing them back down to his sides, he tried again to punch Skulker, only for him to sidestep easily again. "Ugh, come on!"

"You'll never get me, ghost boy! I'll always show up again," Skulker snapped his fingers, disappearing and reappearing just a few feet away, "and again!"

With that, he felt his entire form vibrate, as if struggling to contain itself. Closing his eyes, Danny felt his fingers tingling as Tucker's words ran through his head again. '_Energy_'. With one deep breath, he let the electricity he felt coursing through him collect at the ends of his fists, a ball of solid purple energy coming together when he put his fists together.

"Eat this, Skulker!" Danny yelled, letting the energy dispel from his hands. In an instant, the ball of energy hit Skulker, opening a swirling dark green and violet portal and sucking him in. Before anyone in the trio could think to do anything, the portal closed, the space around where Skulker had just been steaming viciously. Danny looked down at his hands, his eyes wide with shock. "Woah."

"Where's the ghost!" Jazz exclaimed, jumping out of a bush and examining the courtyard before her chest dropped in disappointment. "Awe man, you guys got him without me again?" Sam, Tucker, and Danny all looked at Jazz, still in shock over what had just happened. Jazz straightened her stance, her eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

* * *

**_Hey guys! What do you think?_**

**_I just wanted to give everyone a heads up - I've written through chapter 10 and it gets really, really dark. I'm not quite sure how long it'll turn out being, but I do know I'm not even half way there, so this'll be a longer fic! That being said, though, I am keeping with my every other day posting schedule, just to make sure if I get writer's block I've still got some material to post._**

**_Please keep favoriting, following, and reviewing! I love the reviews - they honestly keep me going when I get stumped :)_**

**_Until next time, my dudes!_**

**_~Ash_**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Danny was laying on his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as snippets from the last day ran through his head. It had been just a few hours since he'd made Skulker disappear, and he could still hear Sam's words in his head, her face all he saw when he closed his eyes.

"You…made him disappear!" she'd yelled after Tucker and Jazz had left to try and give the two some space. They were still in the courtyard, Danny having detransformed just moments before.

"I- I didn't mean to! Besides, isn't getting the ghosts out of here the goal?!" Danny responded, his hands flying around him as he talked.

"Well, sure, but not like that," Sam said, her eyes filling with tears. "You don't know what it looked like, what Tucker and I saw!"

"And what did you see?" Danny remembered asking.

Sam faltered at that, allowing a tear stream down his face. "You…it's scary to see you that way, Danny. And I know it's not you, but you just looked like…"

"…like a _monster_?" Danny asked, a dagger twisting into his gut.

Sam looked down, at her combat boots, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I didn't say that…"

"But you're thinking it, right?" Danny asked, gaze focused on Sam as she looked up at him, her black eyeliner dripping towards her chin now.

"I don't know what to tell you, Danny. I know it wasn't you—"

"And what if that was me?" he asked, voice raising slightly. "What if that right there was me?! What if this is me now!"

"It…doesn't have to- to be…" Sam stammered, trying desperately to stop her makeup from dripping down her neck.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Danny asked, his right hand flying up from his side. Sam flinched, stumbling back and tripping over a knotted root sticking out of the ground but managing to catch herself before she fell. At that, Danny' heart sank, his hands flying to his hair as he tried to steady his rapidly beating heart. "Sam, I'm so- so- sorry, I…"

Sam looked at him with fear in her eyes, and with a start, Danny realized it wasn't because he was angry; it was because he was glowing. Bringing his hands down in front of his face, a familiar purple glow oozed from his skin. He blinked a few times, seeing those scaly hands on and off before stumbling backwards. In a rush, he remembered all the little details of the experiment, how the substance seemed to encapsulate everything around him. Now, it was eating him alive.

"No, no this isn't happening, I'm not a—" Danny looked up at Sam, subconsciously looking for reassurance but only finding fear. "I'm…" _a monster_, the words lingered between them. "…sorry," Danny wheezed, his heart thumping out of his chest. Without sparing another glance in Sam's direction, he transformed, his emotions dulling the moment he did so. With a deep breath, he turned and flew off, only hearing Sam call his name when she was already in the background.

After skipping the second half of the school day, Danny found himself flying into the Ghost Zone, not really going anywhere in particular. All he knew was that he needed a break from everything human — their world, their standards, and their emotions. He didn't know he was headed to Clockwork's tower until he found himself staring at the hands of the clock, moving forward and backward on their own will. Sighing, he flew gently down to the base of the island, crossing his glowing white legs and putting his head in his hands.

In that moment, Danny knew Sam was probably right; he should stop doing experiments with that damn plant, but there was another part of him that tugged at his stomach, like a small animal trying to drag something bigger than them along. He wanted to keep going. He wanted more of whatever it was, on a primal level. He needed more power, more control, to prove he wasn't really a monster, and that he could handle himself.

All of this ran through his head as Clockwork slowly descended from his tower, taking a seat next to the young halfa. "Daniel," the deep voice shook Danny from his thoughts, turning his head over his shoulder as the elderly looking ghost approached.

"O- oh, uh, sorry…" Danny started to get up, only for Clockwork to place a hand on his arm, silently urging him to stay seated as he took a seat next to him.

"What lead you to my island today? After all, only those who need it find it," Clockwork's eyes twinkled a bit, his form shifting to that of a young child.

"I…" Danny's voice cracked, forcing him to straighten up a bit in an attempt to collect himself. "I think there's something wrong with me…"

Clockwork nodded, a knowing look lingering in his gaze. "I see. And what makes you think that?"

"It's my friends," Danny began, looking down at his hands, a sudden urge of anger overtaking him as he clenched them into purple glowing fists. "They don't see that I need to be stronger. They think I'm a monster, but really, this is what I need to be."

Clockwork nodded. "Ah. I see. And you really feel this way? It's not anything else making you say this?"

Danny turned his attention to Clockwork, his anger growing as he stood up defensively. "You're just the same as they are. You don't trust me!"

"I never said that, Daniel," Clockwork sighed, unfazed by Danny's outburst. "I don't trust the forces you're working with. I trust you, child."

"Don't call me child!" Danny yelled, and before he could control himself, he felt that same electricity surging through his hands, readying himself to throw it at the now middle aged ghost. Before he got the chance, however, Clockwork pressed the top of his staff, stopping Danny in his track. While Danny was frozen, he could still feel the burst of energy coursing through him, as if it had a will of his own.

"This isn't power, Daniel. This is a _parasite_. Whether you realize it now or later, that fact still stands," Clockwork explained, getting up and walking around the frozen halfa skeptically. "You feel it in you, don't you? It has a mind of its own. You don't have to go along with it, if you don't want to."

Danny whimpered from where he stood frozen, the electricity within him spinning around him and strangling him from the chest up. Clockwork released his hold on Danny, sending the teen to his knees as he grabbed his neck in an attempt to catch his breath. With a few strangled coughs, he finally managed to take control of his body again, the electricity subsiding just long enough for him to manage a few strangled breaths. He looked up at Clockwork, pure terror in his eyes as he rubbed his neck in fear.

"I—" Danny tried to speak, but his throat was horse from whatever had just happened.

"Shh, don't speak, just listen," Clockwork methodically crouched next to Danny. "You're dealing with dangerous forces here — forces beyond your control. I wish you the best of luck, I truly do, but I'm afraid this is beyond even my control. I am deeply sorry, my child," Clockwork's eyebrows furrowed as he transitioned back into the form of an old man.

"Uh—" Danny started again, though this time he was overtaken by a coughing fit. Now on all fours, he coughed towards the ground, his entire body shuddering as he did so. Clockwork could only watch as Danny coughed up deep red blood mixed with a purple glowing goo. When he finished, he fell to the ground totally now, his gaze on the swirling green Ghost Zone around him. "Wh- what's happening to me?" Danny asked when he finally caught his breath, his voice hoarse from his coughing fit.

"I cannot get involved in this matter. It is an ancient law even I cannot break. I am sincerely sorry, Daniel, but I have already said too much," the older ghost watched as Danny closed his eyes, a single tear streaming down his face. "You are capable of overcoming this. I promise you. I've seen it. You must trust yourself, though."

Danny nodded slowly, biting his trembling lower lip. "O- ok…"

After their exchange, Clockwork had transported Danny back to his room, leaving him there, laying in his bed and staring at his ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Sam and Clockwork's words out his head, their exchanges replaying in his head as though on a loop.

A knock came from his bedroom door, interrupting his thoughts as he opened his eyes. Before Danny could say anything, Jazz opened the door, eyes widening when she saw him. "Oh, Danny!" she ran up to him and threw her arms around him. Danny just laid there, letting her embrace him before pulling back and looking him up and down. "You're ok! We've all been worried sick! Where were you?"

Danny looked at her before turning over on his side away from his sister. "It's not important," he mumbled.

"Um…hey, look at me," Jazz insisted, grabbing Danny's shoulder. Before he could stop it, he felt the energy flowing around him reach out and grab her, shocking the hand she had laid on his shoulder. Jazz yelped, pulling her hand away. Danny didn't have the energy to look at her to see if she was ok.

"Sorry…" he mumbled, his mind in a daze as the electricity seemed to suck the life out of him.

"Danny! What…what's going on?!" Jazz yelled, walking around his bed to look at him. Danny closed his eyes when she finally made her way around his bed, refusing to make eye contact.

"It's nothing, I'm just tired. Can…can you leave," Danny's voice trembled at the end of the sentence against his will. Deep in his gut, there was something telling him to get her to stay. That voice scared him shitless, and he knew that if she stayed, something might happen. He didn't know if he could control the impulses being funneled into his mind.

"I…" Jazz sighed, obviously frustrated. With that, Danny's eyes flew open, and he felt a surge of energy as he sat up.

"I just need you to go!" it almost wasn't his own voice when he spoke. There was something sinister speaking through him, and he knew that if Jazz didn't leave soon, it would be acting through him too.

Jazz's eyes went wide as she looked Danny over. Just as Danny's blood began to boil, she finally stepped down, rushing to his door and slamming it shut as she left. Right as it slammed, Danny' vision went black, his body moving on it's own in a rush. He could feel himself getting out of bed and transforming, moving him out of the window. His vision faded in and out as he stumbled his way through the night sky, the energy within him searching for something. Before he knew it, he was approaching Tucker's window, and upon that realization, he forced himself out of the trance. He needed to be present with Tucker, if only to protect him from whatever was growing within him.

Shakily, Danny tapped on Tucker's window, and the techno geek opened the window in a hurry, an expression of relief painted across his face. "Dude, we were all so worried! Are you ok?"

Danny forced a smile, nodding hesitantly before phasing through his friend's wall and landing on the ground. "Yeah, I'm doing…just fine."

"That's good! See, I told Jazz and Sam they were just overreacting. You just needed some time to think, right?" Tucker offered him a small smile.

"Um, yep," Danny felt a twist in his gut from lying to his best friend, but he knew that whatever was growing within him wouldn't allow any room for suspicion. "Just a little distance, but I'm all good now."

"So, what's up? You wanna hang out for a little bit?" Tucker asked. "I just got the new DLC for that one game you liked of mine; you know, the one with the monsters and stuff?"

At the word '_monster_', Danny felt the energy shift within him, settling deeper into his stomach. "Uh, no, I actually had a different idea," Danny let his transformation drop, the sheer amount of pain he felt from being in his human form almost knocking him over. Somehow, he recovered quick enough as not to alarm his friend, settling for a smile to curb any suspicion.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, so what if we do another quick experiment?" Danny asked, trying his best not to show any signs of distress as the pain intensified, his hunger for the plant growing rapidly.

Tucker's brows furrowed, looking towards his dresser and back at Danny skeptically. "Uh, you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I mean, might as well keep this momentum going, right?" Danny asked, feigning nonchalance and hoping Tucker wouldn't notice the sweat trickling down the sides of his face.

"I don't know dude, maybe that's not the best idea…" Tucker chuckled nervously, stepping between Danny and his dresser. Immediately, Danny's attention was drawn to that dresser. That must have been where he was keeping the plant.

"It'll be fine," Danny tore his attention from the dresser just long enough to address Tucker, who was shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. Before either teen could do or say anything, Tucker's phone went off. The moment he looked down at the caller ID, he looked back at Danny with worry painted across his features.

"It's Jazz…?"

"Oh, weird. Well, go ahead and take it, I'll just be here," Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and trying not to wince when he felt it was drenched in sweat.

"Ok, but stay here. I'll just be a sec," Tucker said, turning out of his room and stepping into the hallway. Immediately, Danny felt his pupils dilate as the world around him went black. He felt his body rush towards the dresser, pulling drawer after drawer open before finally settling on the cool metal of the Fenton thermos. The second his hand connected with it, he could feel the plant inside, and the energy in his gut writhed in joy. Grabbing it and putting it under his arm, Danny felt his body transform, flying from the window of Tucker's room and into the night.

* * *

**_Hi all! What do you think? I'm finally getting in to the angst, and I'm so so excited to see what you all think!_**

**_It's going to get steadily darker and darker from here, and the horror will really start to pick up as well._**

**_Please please keep on favoriting, following, and reviewing! I especially love the reviews - I read all of them and I love them all!!_**

**_Until next time my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Sam shook her right leg anxiously, waiting in front of the Fentons' door, having just rang their doorbell. She had her motorized scooter leaning up against the house, her head spinning as she waited for Jazz to answer. As soon as she'd called Sam about Danny, her heart hadn't stopped racing for even a moment. Whatever was going on with Danny had sent her reeling, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath.

Before Sam's mind could wander to what had happened earlier that day anymore, Jazz opened the door, her red hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. "Hey, thanks for coming so soon. Tucker just got here a few minutes ago, we're just at the table," Jazz led her in, motioning towards the Fentons' dining room table. Tucker was there, his skin pale and blotchy and his eyes wide in shock.

"Woah, Tucker...are you alright?" Sam asked, sitting down across from him slowly. He nodded shakily, his own leg obviously bouncing under the table.

"He's a little in shock. I still don't totally know what happened to Danny..." Jazz trailed off, looking at Tucker with sympathy in her eyes.

"I...it was like earlier today, but way..._way_ worse," Tucker started explaining, his hands wrapping around himself defensively.

"You don't have to talk about it if you're not ready," Sam said, offering her friend a sad smile.

"No it's...fine," Tucker sighed, giving her a slight reassuring nod. "He came in my window which was already kind of weird — my parents love it when he visits. I didn't notice anything was wrong with him right away. He said he wanted to do another experiment, which was when Jazz called. Then, when I was talking to her..." he trailed off, eyes moving to the table as his brows furrowed.

"Yeah?" Jazz asked, effectively shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Then..." Tucker gulped, "I heard something in my room, so I came back in. He was...I don't know, but it wasn't Danny in there. He wouldn't look at me when I called his name, and his eyes, they were...just black. And I tried to pull the thermos with the plant out of his hands but he- he pushed me against my wall. Hard. Then, when I got up, he was gone..."

"Oh, Tucker..." Jazz said, getting up and looking at him with a determined stare. "I'll get you some hot coco and a blanket. Are you hurt? You know what, I'll grab a first aid kit, too. I'll be right back, you two," she sauntered off, tugging at her hair anxiously.

Sam turned her attention to Tucker, his eyes meeting her's. "It wasn't Danny, Sam. I don't know what happened to him...but I think I did it. I think I did this to Danny," Tucker let out a soft whimper, his tearful eyes turning back to the table.

"No, Tucker, you didn't know. None of us knew this would happen — not even Danny. It's not you're fault, I promise," Sam reached out her hand and laid it on his reassuringly. With a start, she noted it wasn't the same as when she held Danny's. That was the last thing she needed to be thinking about in that moment.

"I...I guess...but..."

"No buts," Sam said, tapping his hand once more before getting up from the table and crossing her arms in front of her. "He was already upset, especially after our conversation. If anything, it's on me. I could've calmed him down before he left, but instead I let that stupid plant take over..."

"Sam—"

"I'm such an _idiot_!" she kicked the wall with her combat boot, a sickening thud shaking the entire house. Sam felt her face heat up, tears welling in her eyes as she stared at the small dent she'd left. "He just needed me to be there for him..."

"Hey, if you're an idiot, so am I," Tucker laughed nervously, bringing her attention back to the table and away from the wall. "I mean, and since you're so sure it's not my fault, maybe it's not yours either. Maybe it's nobody's fault."

Sam smiled through quivering lips, wiping her eyes and looking down at her tear stained hand, glad she'd already taken off her makeup for the night. She took a seat before letting herself do something she never did in front of people; she sobbed. Tucker wrapped his arm around her, bringing her closer to him as she leaned in to his comforting touch.

"Oh, poor Danny…" she sniffled, crying into Tucker's shoulder.

"We'll find him. I mean, we have ways to, and then we can figure this all out. We always do."

"I…" Sam started, trailing off as she leaned out of Tucker's embrace, letting her tears drip down her face. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive," Jazz's voice came from behind the two as she came in to the kitchen holding a few blankets and pillows, a first aid kid tucked under her arm, obviously having heard the last part of their conversation. "We'll find Danny, then we'll undo whatever happened to him." Sam and Jazz made eye contact for a moment, the older teen's gaze softening. "I promise."

* * *

Danny flew through the Ghost Zone, the thermos tucked under his right arm as he flew. He'd broken out of his daze a while ago, but didn't have the strength to fight the urge to fly deeper and deeper in. He didn't know how long he'd been in the daze, nor did he know quite where he was in the Ghost Zone, but he could feel by the ache in his bones that he'd been flying for a while. Before he could entertain the thought much longer, he felt himself plummeting towards one of the islands, not having time to identify which one before he slammed face first into it. Immediately, a groan escaped from his lips, and he used his left arm to turn himself onto his back.

"Hey, dipstick, get off of my island," Ember's voice came from just behind him, though she luckily sounded more annoyed than angry.

"Please," Danny's voice wavered, and he had no intention to hide his pain. "I just…need a second…"

"One," Ember said, placing her platform boot on his shoulder and listening to him whimper under her touch. "Woah, what's your damage?"

Danny closed his eyes, not even trying to fight back. The electricity inside him churned at that thought, and before he could do anything else, it reached out and grabbed Ember's foot, sending a shock up her leg.

"Ow! What the—" Ember asked, and when Danny opened his tear filled eyes, her face fell, a look of understanding sweeping her light blue features. "Oh shit, you got infected, didn't you?"

Danny's dark brows furrowed, his arm coming to his side so that he could prop himself up. His entire body ached at the small movement, but he somehow managed to keep himself upright. "You know what it is?"

Ember looked around, checking to see if any other ghost was around. When she realized the coast was clear, she kneeled down next to him, eyeing the thermos under his arm skeptically. "Yeah…I've known a few others who've been infected. It…never ends well…"

Danny closed his eyes, feeling himself drift back to the ground as his arm gave out. "I want- I don't- what do I do?"

Ember helped him back up, her ice cold skin brushing against Danny's burning hot flesh. "Let me help you up. I can get you something to ease the pain."

Danny opened his eyes, watching as Ember propped a boulder behind him. "Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me…"

Ember chuckled, sitting back on her knees and shaking her head. "I don't hate you, dipstick. You're always just in my way."

"Oh," Danny gasped, pressing his hand to his side before bringing it back in front of him, gasping at the sight the deep, glowing purple goo covering his gloved hand. "I didn't think…I didn't think I got hurt…"

"It'll do that to you," Ember smiled sadly at him, and for the first time, Danny was able to really get a good look at her features. She had a strong jawline and big glowing green eyes. Something about her reminded him of Jazz, sending a small smile to his face. "She didn't feel anything until it was too late. At least your human side helps you feel it before then."

"She?" Danny asked, trying to steady his breath with effort.

"Oh," a deep green blush spread across her cheeks as she looked away, her fiery hair twisting a bit as if it had a mind of its own. "Not important; just another ghost. She was before your time. We were…_close_. Really close. But she…got infected…"

"You loved her?" Danny asked in his mildly delirious state, his mind fluttering to Sam and her smile.

Ember looked at Danny, realizing just how out of it he was. "Yeah. I loved her. As much as us '_monstrous ghosts_' can love, anyways."

"We're all monsters," Danny closed his eyes, chuckling lightly before pressing his hand to his side again in another fit of pain. "Ask anyone. I'm the worst of them all."

"That's not true; you're still alive. Your soul still has a chance. Maybe if when you die, you won't end up here. Hopefully you'll be luckier than any of us here," Ember reassured, crossing her legs and leaning back on her palms.

"Uh," Danny started before his head began spinning again. He turned over his shoulder, vomiting just a few inches from the boulder he was propped up against. When his vision stopped spinning, he wiped his mouth, looking down at the glowing purple goo in front of him. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry. I was used to it. Rosie got really sick at the end," Ember explained, eyeing the vomit sadly.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Danny asked breathlessly, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked down at the ground in front of him.

Ember sighed, drawing Danny's attention back to her. "We all died here. You're going to at some point, too. I don't know when, but for what it's worth, I hope not too soon. Invading your world will be a lot more boring without you there. I always love a challenge," she joked lightly, eyeing him with sympathy.

"I hope I die…as long as it means I don't have to live like this anymore…" Danny said, his filter gone as his vision blurred in and out.

"That's not true. Stay with me, Danny," Ember said, moving closer to him and grabbing his face upon the realization that he was going downhill quickly. Her ice cold hands woke him up immediately. Danny locked eyes with her, and looking back down at his body, he realized he'd detransformed. "If you survive this, maybe there's hope for the rest of us. I know you won't believe it, but you give us all hope for our kind. You remind us all of our own humanity. You've got to fight this. Otherwise, it'll just be us…and Vlad…"

Danny shuddered, his eyes rolling back in his head for a moment before he blinked them forward again. He was shivering violently now. "I- I- I can't…"

"Let me grab some herbs from my room. Stay here, ok? Don't die on me yet," Ember said quickly, flying away in a blur of blue and green. It only felt like a moment or two before she was back by his side, shaking his shoulder to wake him up again. "Hey, buddy, I've got something here, but I think you're gonna need to be a ghost to take it. Can you do that? Just for a second?"

Danny nodded, swallowing the sandpaper in his throat. Closing his eyes, he let out a yelp as he transformed into his ghost form, the electricity in his stomach writhing under the pressure. Before he or it could do anything, Ember shoved a dark green spoon in his mouth, his body instinctively swallowing as if on autopilot. The moment the fowl liquid hit his tongue, he felt the energy smoking, a toxic purple cloud seeping through his skin. He swallowed harshly, his head slumping back on the boulder behind him.

"Listen, you need to rest. Stay here for a little while, ok? I know how to take care of you," Ember said, though Danny didn't have the energy to look directly at her.

"Why? Why are you helping me? Why would you even?" Danny muttered, his head falling to one side as his vision began to blur at the edges again.

"Because I couldn't help Rosie. But I can help you, ok? Now let's get you inside."

* * *

**_Hi all! What do you think? If I'm being completely honest, this Ember and Danny scene has got to be one of my favorite scenes I've written for this (as far as heartfelt / fluff goes)_**

**_Sorry if I'm off the posting schedule s but - I had a lot going on these last 2 days and I kind of lost track of which day it was for a while there. But if I'm still on the schedule, then disregard that!_**

**_Anyways, I'm really excited about what's to come! I've started hitting a bit of a wall, but I have everything through chapter 13 written, so I've got time to figure it out again._**

**_Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, follows, and reviews! The reviews keep me going, so I really appreciate those!_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Jazz held up the boo-merang, looking at Sam and Tucker with faux confidence. "This is what I used to reach Danny when his alternate universe evil self sent him away. I'm thinking that if we throw this, it has to find it's way to Danny, and maybe we can get through to him."

The two younger teens nodded along with her, boosting Jazz's spirits just a little. "And what do we write?" Tucker asked.

"I..." Jazz trailed off, her brows furrowing as she looked back down at the device. "I don't know..."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other and back at Jazz. "Hey, this is a good start. Maybe we can track it or something, too. That way, not only do we send him a message, but we figure out where he is," Sam offered the idea up, smiling reassuringly at Jazz.

"Oh, I could do that, actually!" Tucker said, pulling his PDA from his cargo pants. "I'll just need some of your parents' equipment. They're still out of town?"

"Yeah," Jazz sighed, looking up the stairs to the lab hesitantly before looking back at Tucker. "They called me this morning and told me it'll be a couple more days. Apparently there's a follow up to the convention they got invited to or something...I don't really know..."

"Well, I'll take it," Tucker said, moving around the lab and getting to work with various pieces of his equipment. With that, Jazz set the boo-merang down on a nearby lab table and leaned against it for support.

"Hey Jazz," Sam walked over, leaning against the same table and facing the older teen, "how much sleep did you get last night?"

Jazz smiled sadly back at Sam. "How much did you get?"

"Fair enough," Sam sighed, her shoulders slumping forward. "I think Tucker's a stress sleeper, because he was snoring in my ear all night. Thanks for letting us stay, by the way."

"Of course. We're all a part of this, and Danny needs all of us right now. Especially you," Jazz said, not breaking eye contact with Sam.

"What..." Sam looked down at her combat boots, "...what do you mean?"

"I just mean that I'm not blind. You two care about each other. A lot. He needs all of us, but I know how much he needs you too. Probably the same way you need him?"

Sam looked back up at Jazz, biting her shaking lip. "I don't need him..."

"Really?" Jazz asked doubtfully. "Then you _want_ him, at least."

"That— ok, I get what you're saying, but your wording needs to be different," Sam exclaimed, a hot blush creeping up her neck.

"I know what I said," Jazz smiled back at her slyly. "I was with him when he was sleeping after the last experiment, you know. He kept calling your name, like he was afraid something would happen to you. I have a feeling if you'd gotten any sleep last night, you would've done the same with him."

Sam opened and closed her mouth a few times before letting her shoulders drop, sighing in resignation. "I don't know. It's really complicated — especially now."

"I know. I get it. Believe it or not, I've had people in my life like that too..." Jazz trailed off, smiling slightly. "We all have. You and Danny are just so bad at hiding it."

"Hey! Rude!" Sam elbowed Jazz teasingly, and the two laughed together. It was a good laugh — something neither of them had had for a few days.

"Just...when we write the note to him, you should write something separately. It might stand out to him, especially in this state," Jazz explained when they finally stopped laughing.

Sam nodded solemnly, pulled hastily back into the moment. "Yeah. I will."

* * *

Danny groggily opened his eyes, the world around him swirling a mix of forest and neon green. He tried to get up right away, only for his vision to blur at the edges with even the slightest movement.

"Woah there, dipstick," Ember's voice came from beside him. "Slow down. You're still pretty beat up, but I think you're getting better."

As Danny's vision steadied, he used Ember's glowing blue figure as a sort of an anchor, focusing on her hair and when his vision cleared enough, her eyes. Still, all he saw was Jazz in them, allowing him to relax a bit. "How…long have I been out?"

"I don't know," Ember sighed with a sad smile. "Time works differently here. But this did come for you," she handed him a small device, and when he reached out to grab it, Danny realized it was the boo-merang. Instantly, a pang of guilt hit him in the gut, fueling the dampened electricity that still lived within him.

"Oh," he said slowly.

"What is it? Theres two notes tied to it, but I didn't want to read them. You know, invasion of privacy or whatever," she explained, sitting back in her electric guitar shaped chair and smiling at him.

"It's something my parents made to track ghosts. It accidentally got locked on to my ecto-signature. My friends must have used it to send me a message…"

"Oh. That's right, your _friends_. I almost forgot humans have those…" Ember trailed off, the glow of her fiery hair dimming ever so slightly.

Danny looked back at her with a kind smile. "Humans have them, sure, but so do you. You've got me, at least."

"We're friends?" Ember asked, eyes smiling while she tried to play it cool.

"I don't know what else you'd call nursing me back to health. I call it friendship," Danny explained, taking a second to look around the room he was in. Everything had a music theme and a faint blue-green glow. Turning under him, he realized he was laying on a makeshift bed Ember must have made for him by pulling two guitar shaped recliners together. A bit of warmth grew in the pit of his stomach at the thought of her putting in so much effort for him.

"I suppose," Ember drew his attention back to herself, a small smile lingering on his face. "Now open the letters up, I wanna see what they sent you. Gosh, I forget how much I liked getting mail…"

"Ok, just let me," Danny groaned as he tried to adjust himself into a seated position, Ember coming in quickly to help him up by his elbows. "Thanks."

Looking down at the boo-merang, he shakily untied Jazz's headband, his mind fluttering back to the last time she'd sent him a note this way before he forced him back into the present. The last thing he needed in that moment was to think about his evil alternate self. Upon unravelling the headband, two notes fell off of the device, landing in Danny's lap lightly. He unfolded the first one, immediately recognizing Jazz's handwriting. Unfortunately, his vision was still blurred and hazy, and Jazz wrote in cursive. Setting it aside for a moment, he picked up the other note skeptically. He didn't know why they'd have to send two, but upon unfolding it, he realized why; the second note was written in Sam's handwriting.

'_Danny_,' it read, '_I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. You're not a monster. I swear. I messed up, and I'm sorry. I care about you a lot, and if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. Please, come back home. We'll figure this out, I promise. Just please, we can't figure this out if you're gone. Love, Sam_'

Danny's vision went black at the edges, the electricity in his stomach feeding off his uncertain feelings. The note fell from his hands, Sam's face coming into his mind, painted with fear and disappointment. He started shivering relentlessly, drawing Ember's attention immediately.

"Danny? What's the matter? What did it say?" Ember reached down to pick up Sam's note, but before she could, Danny felt his body moving against his intentions, grabbing her wrist with a steely grip. His eyes snapped to her's, fear in her eyes too. Everyone was afraid of him, weren't they?

"I don't know what's happening," Danny whimpered, trying to remove his hand from her arm, but the energy in his stomach only allowed for a few twitches of his fingers. "I can't— can't control my body. What's happening?"

Ember's eyes widened with realization, pulling her arm away with too much force for Danny to resist and flying back quickly. "It's happening. I thought I was helping you get better, but maybe I only made it stronger."

The energy seemed pleased with that answer, bringing Danny's body up to a floating position just a few feet above Ember's blue carpeted floors. "Please, help me! I don't have any control!" The black edges of his vision began creeping inward, and Danny felt his pulse quicken.

"I can't help you, I'm so sorry!" Ember called out in despair, moving farther away as Danny felt the electricity wrapping around him, resting against his neck, as if a threat. "You need to leave. Your friends…they might have a way to stop this. I'm so sorry I couldn't do that for you."

Danny's vision was nearly completely black now, only leaving Ember's fearful face before collapsing in on him with a shriek. And with that, the only thing he could think about was Sam as he felt his body being flung across the Ghost Zone.

* * *

Sam was in her own room now, having left the Fenton's just about an hour earlier when it was clear the boo-merang wasn't going to to get him back anytime soon. It was only a little after eight at night, but it felt so much later after the stressful day she'd had. She'd just changed into her black satin pajamas, throwing on a pair of bat slippers as she pulled her hair up and got ready to go to sleep. Just as she was about to turn off the lights, she heard a crash just outside her window, followed by a low groan. Sprinting to her window, she opened up her blinds, seeing Danny tangled in a the tree next to her house.

"Danny!" Sam yelled at him after hastily throwing the window open. Instantly, his attention snapped to her, a bit of black lingering in the corners of his glowing green eyes. Wordlessly, he flew out of the tree and towards the window, Sam stepping back to allow him some room to phase in. When he was finally in her room, Sam rushed forward, throwing her arms around him protectively.

"Sam—"

"Shhh, don't say anything, you're alright," Sam tangled her fingers through his hair, noticing how severely he was shivering. With a start, she realized he was burning up, but decided not to bring that up. "You're back. You're ok," she muttered into his ear.

Danny went stiff, and instinctively, Sam broke their embrace, taking a small step back before accidentally letting a small yelp fall from her lips. Standing before her was no longer Danny, instead it was his body staring at her with pitch black eyes.

"You're not Danny…" she stumbled over both her words and her feet as she took a few steps backward, landing in a seated position on her bed.

"You're Sam," Danny's lips didn't move; the voice came from all around Sam. It was like it was speaking into her mind.

"I am," she breathed out, working to catch her frantic breath.

The thing in Danny's body tilted his head, studying her. "A strange connection. He cares deeply for you. That'll do."

"What'll do?" Sam asked, shooting to her feet and crossing her shaking arms in front of her in an attempt to appear stronger than they both knew she was.

"An incentive. He doesn't want to give in yet. A very strong will — too strong. You will help me break it," the words floated around Sam's head.

"I— will not do that," Sam said with feigned confidence. "You won't break him!"

Before Sam could say anything else, Danny's eyes shot back to their brilliant green, and he looked at her with pure terror. "Sam, you need to leave—" he started, only to be interrupted by his own choking.

"Danny? Danny!" Sam cried out as he held his throat, coughing and hacking, making it painfully obvious that he couldn't breathe. With a thud, he fell to the ground, hand flying to his neck as he tried desperately to stop some invisible force from choking the life from him.

"Do as you're told, or I'll keep him like this," the sinister voice spoke inside Sam's head once again as she rushed down to Danny's side, their eyes meeting as Danny's went black once more, his body still shaking in pain and lack of air.

"Yes! Yes, fine, just let him go, please let him go," Sam stammered, tears streaming down her face as she watched whatever had it's grip on Danny subside.

"Good. Now, you're coming with us, child. We have work to do," the voice spoke again in Sam's head, Danny's body left shaking on the ground as Sam was powerless to do anything but watch. She kept her eyes on him for one more moment before looking around her room, heart sinking as she did so.

"When are we coming back?" she asked the air, knowing that it would hear her either way.

"Never."

Sam gulped, looking back at Danny and sighing. "Ok. Let me pack a few things, then."

"Hurry. And leave your cellular device. Only essentials."

Sam nodded, an numbness spreading over her skin as she mindlessly grabbed a bag from her closet and threw a few changes of clothes into it. Moving to her bathroom to grab some toiletries, she caught a look at herself in the mirror. Her face was red and blotchy, the tears glistening in the fluorescent lighting. Turning back to make sure Danny was still on the ground, she quickly grabbed her lipstick, writing a small note only Jazz and Tucker would be able to decipher on her mirror and throwing it into her bag before the thing could notice. Turning back to Danny, she threw the bag over her shoulder, nodding numbly at him.

"Ok. Let's go," she said, a bit of hope growing in the very pit of her stomach as she thought back to the note she'd left. Hopefully it wouldn't be in vain.

* * *

_**Hey all! What do you think?**_

_**I don't know if this is a good time to say this or not, but I do just want everyone to know that this story is really important to me. A little insight - I'm almost two years recovered from an eating disorder, and this idea of Danny having something in his head, growing like a parasite, is absolutely what it was like living with my disorder, and to be honest, still sometimes is. It means so so much to me that you guys are enjoying it, and honestly, it's kind of cathartic to be able to post such a meaningful story on this platform. To anyone who might be struggling with anything similar - be it an eating disorder, addiction, or any other form of mental illness, recovery is possible, and life after recovery is absolutely worth it.**_

_**Anyways, little personal note aside, I really do enjoy this story, and I hope it helps someone out there as much as it's helping me to write it and get it out of my head. I appreciate every single follow, favorite, and review. The reviews honestly mean so so much to me, they keep me writing even when I'm swamped with college essays.**_

_**Love you all, and please be kind to yourselves! I'll be back with a really heavy chapter for you all the day after tomorrow, so be ready for things to intensify!**_

_**Until next time, my dudes!**_

_**~Ash**_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Tucker and Jazz were waiting for Sam to show up the next morning in the Fenton's lab, both checking the time periodically.

"It's been an hour, do you think the's just running late or something?" Tucker asked, watching as the clock struck noon.

"I don't think so…" Jazz said, crossing her arms in front of her worriedly and tapping her foot. "I think we should go to her place and see what's going on. I have a bad feeling about this, especially with everything that happened yesterday."

"Have you ever met her parents?" Tucker asked, snorting halfheartedly.

"No?"

"Yeah, so they're a little intense, and I have a feeling they wouldn't be too happy about us just randomly stopping by.." Tucker explained, trailing off and looking at the clock. "…but she's really late, and she's not picking up her phone, so maybe…we should just risk it…"

Jazz straightened up, having made up her mind, and grabbed her bag from one of the lab tables. "C'mon, we're going over. I'll drive."

By the time the two had made it to Sam's house, they'd pretty much exhausted their conversation points, which included 'How's your day been so far' and 'Wow crazy what's been happening'. Almost immediately after knocking on the door, Sam's mother answered, her makeup and hair perfectly in place, and her 1950's style dress nearly glued to her body.

"Oh," her spirits seemed to drop upon realizing it was just Sam's friends rather than someone she could impress with her immaculate appearance, "it's you. And you brought your girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend — Danny's older sister. We're here to see Sam? We were supposed to hang out earlier today," Tucker explained, face heating up at the false accusation of Jazz being his girlfriend.

"Well that's news to me. You'd think a young lady would inform her parents of such plans. But she's not much of a lady, now is she?" her mother asked almost triumphantly, as though she'd made some amazing point.

"Uh, whatever, can we see her though?" Tucker asked, turning to Jazz for backup.

"Yeah, we just want to talk to her about some homework. Well, Tucker does, anyways. I'm just his ride," Jazz lied through her teeth, smiling at the cold woman standing before her.

"I suppose that's fine, just don't wake my mother. She sleeps in the room next door, and I wouldn't be surprised if Samantha kept her up all night."

"Ok, sure, whatever. Thanks," Tucker muttered when Mrs. Manson finally let them in, heading to the stairs out of instinct. He'd been there a few times, but had never been allowed in Sam's room, even though he knew exactly where it was.

Upon reaching her black poster covered door, Tucker froze up, not wanting to open it. "You ok?" Jazz asked from next to him.

"Yeah, it's just Sam hates it when I try to go into her room. I don't know, it feels weird to be here now and go in without her letting me…"

Jazz sighed, stepping in front of Tucker and knocking loudly at the door. "Sam? Sam, we were supposed to hang out this morning, remember?" When there wasn't an answer, Jazz tried again, this time a little louder. "Hey Sam, we're gonna come in now!"

Eerily, there was still no answer when she carefully opened the door, pushing it open with a bit of effort. Taking a small step in, Jazz's senses tingled; something wasn't right here. Tucker followed her lead, sauntering in and cupping his hands over his mouth. "Sam! Yo, we're in your room! What's up?"

Jazz examined the perfectly made bed and the open window, moving along the edges of the room and noticing that some of her things were thrown about, which surprised Jazz. While Sam would have killed her for saying so, Jazz knew she was secretly a clean freak, keeping all of her things in perfect condition. To see the room thrown about like so just didn't make any sense. Tucker sat down on her bed, bending his neck to get a better look at the interior.

"Huh. This is kind of exactly what I expected. A little messier, though…" he trailed off.

"You noticed that too?" Jazz asked, making steady eye contact with the younger teen before turning her back to him and looking into her bathroom. Taking a few steps into it, she turned to the mirror, gasping and covering her mouth with her hands. "Tucker! Come here!"

* * *

Sam clung tightly to Danny's body as he carried her through the Ghost Zone, his hands under her knees and shoulders. While he was somewhat in control at the moment, she could tell he was only present with her with great effort. He kept dipping lower before snapping back to reality and steadying his flight pattern, apologizing every time. Sam watched him the entire time, even when her eyes began to sting from the lack of sleep. His cheeks were hollowing themselves out, becoming dips in his face, and his glowing green eyes always had a tinge of black at the edges — a sombre reminder of what he could become at any moment.

"Where are we going, again?" Sam asked softly, as not to scare Danny as she had a couple minutes ago when she'd asked him the same question.

"I, uh, I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I wish I could've just left you there in your room. I—" Danny began spiraling, his flight pattern dipping slightly again.

"Hey, no, please don't apologize. We'll figure this out. We always do," Sam explained, hugging Danny closer to herself. He was still burning up, but she couldn't help but lean into the warmth here in the frigid Ghost Zone.

"But I—"

"No buts. It's not your fault," Sam reassured, closing her eyes and pressing her ear to his chest. She could still hear his heartbeat, which she presumed was a good thing.

"O- ok," Danny's breath rattled within his chest, and Sam could feel his hand reaching up to his mouth to wipe something away. With that, Sam squeezed her eyes tighter together, hoping to wake up from some bad dream. When she opened them again, she wasn't waking up, but instead watching as Danny hastily tried to wipe a bit of deep, glowing purple goo from his lips.

"Oh, Danny," Sam stammered against her better judgment, reaching up to help him wipe his lips. As soon as her fingers touched his lips, a surge of electricity reached out and grabbed Sam by the thumb, sending a quick shock her way. "Ow…"

"Sam?" Danny asked, wiping his lip before looking down at her, tears in his eyes. "Oh my gosh, I'm so—"

"Don't say you're sorry. Please," Sam shut her eyes tight, letting a stray tear fall. "Because if you're apologizing then that means it's you. And it's not. So please, _please_ don't apologize for it. Please."

Sam opened her eyes again, looking up at Danny as he nodded slowly, letting out a shaky breath as a bit of the blackness retreated from his eyes. "I— yeah, you're right. Thank you."

"Danny, you don't have to thank me. Of course I'm going to be there for you, I always will," Sam explained, nuzzling into his chest and looking up at his eyes.

"You don't mean that," Danny sighed, looking down at her before looking back at his path.

"I do. I really mean that."

Before either of them could say another word, Danny started flying downwards, startling both of them. "I don't...know where I'm going..."

Just as Sam was about to say something, she looked down and saw a small island among the swirling green backdrop. Danny must have seen it at the same time too, cursing under his breath.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked, watching as Danny tried with effort to stop heading in that direction. His attempt was unsuccessful, as he kept flying closer and closer to the island.

"I was just there! What does it want? I can't go back there. She doesn't need that," Danny struggled, his breathing picking up and his entire body shivering again.

"Who? Who doesn't need that? Danny, what's going on?" Sam pleaded with him, her eyes darting between the island and Danny in a panic.

"I—" Danny started, only for his eyes to be glazed over in a thick black film, unblinking and staring at the island. Sam tensed up, no longer in Danny's arms. She closed her eyes now, trying hard not to start crying but failing as a few tears moved down her face.

"We're almost there," the thing spoke into Sam's mind, a hint of a teasing tone in it's voice. Sam nodded shakily, affirming to it that she'd heard it.

She felt them land, and Danny's body let go of her, nearly sending Sam tumbling to the ground if not for her quick reflexes. Upon planting her feet, she took a look around the island, gasping and covering her mouth in response. Where a lovely little house had stood was now a desecrated, still steaming pile of glowing blue plaster. The thing in Danny's body floated around the rubble, looking for something before it finally found what it was looking for, floating down to the ground just a few feet away. With a start, Sam realized what it was — the thermos with the plant in it. Taking a few steps away from Danny, she felt her heart pounding in her ears, rapidly accelerating.

"Wh— what did you do?" Sam called out, trying desperately to grab his attention. Maybe if she could distract him long enough, she could get the thermos form him.

"It's not important. She was simply in my way," the thing spoke through Sam's mind from a few yards away. His back was still to her as his hand inched closer to the thermos sticking out of the rubble.

"Who?" Sam softened her tone in an attempt to appeal to it.

The thing turned Danny's head all the way around, the rest of his body still facing away. Sam winced at the sickening series of cracks coming from his neck as his body followed suit until it was standing in front of her, staring in her direction.

"Ember. I made her disappear," the voice sounded different somehow — softer. "Why do you care?"

Sam shuddered, biting her lip in hopes that the pain would keep her from shrinking back into herself. It was only half effective.

"Because- because I care about Danny..." Sam breathed the words out as the thing walked slowly towards her.

"You care about me..." it said in her mind, almost a whisper now.

"I..." Sam gulped.

"No need to answer," the words bounced through her head. "You never need to answer with me. I'll protect you. From all of them."

Sam shook, her bones going cold with realization of what exactly it was saying. Before she could even think to react, it used Danny's body to fly back to the thermos, throwing it open and grabbing the plant in his hand. Not even a moment later, sooner than Sam could even move, it threw the berries in Danny's mouth, followed shortly by a sickening scream.

"No!" Sam called out, running over to him as she watched Danny's form bubble as he cried out in pain.

Before Sam could stop herself, she grabbed his writhing form, her hands shaking as she watched his veins flood with black venom. His eyes no longer had a black film over them, but were now made of darkness, piercing the glowing space around him as he screamed, a deep purple glow coming from his mouth. The air around him began to smoke, and his white glow flickered purple a few times before staying the violent color. Sam pulled her hands back in pain, realizing that his body was scalding hot, but stayed within arm's reach as his skin bubbled up, dark tendrils trying to push through before settling back into his skin. All his veins now flowed purple, black fluid coursing through them as he finally calmed down, lying all too still.

"Danny?" Sam's voice was smaller than she'd meant for it to be, hardly a whisper.

"Danny's not here anymore," the voice spoke in her mind, louder and clearer than ever. "It's just me now."

* * *

**_Hey all! Thank you so much for such positive responses after last chapter — I appreciate them more than you all could know._**

**_As far as this chapter goes, what do you think? I know it's going in a bit if a strange direction, but this is honestly where I've been wanting it to go since I started writing it. From here on out, I do just want to make it very clear that Danny and this entity are separate beings, as that's the new focus of this all._**

**_Please please please continue to favorite, follow, and review! The reviews are what's keeping me going (I'm almost done writing chapter 14 at this point) and they mean the world to me. I'm going to keep updating on an every other day schedule for the time being, but I just want to let you know that if my mild writer's block / ever busy schedule continues, I may have to slow down._**

**_Until next time, my dudes!_**

**_~Ash_**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Jazz and Tucker sped along in the Specter Speeder, passing various islands in the Ghost Zone as they went. In the back seat, Tucker had the Ghost Catcher ready in response to Sam's note. Closing his eyes, he could still see the black lipstick written shakily on the mirror, '_possessed Danny taking me_'. He shivered just thinking about it, turning his attention back to Jazz as she steered the cruiser in the direction the boo-merang had landed the day prior.

"Why are we going there, again? Didn't he get Sam after he got the boo-merang?" Tucker asked anxiously, his leg shaking as he bit his lip.

"Well, sure, but maybe this'll give us a clue, you know?" Jazz explained, her eyes darting back and forth as the GPS lead them deeper within the swirling green void. "We're getting close though. Just a few more…oh my gosh…" Jazz trailed off, her eyes widening.

"What…?" Tucker asked, following her gaze and feeling his mouth fall open in shock. The island the GPS was leading them to stuck out like a sore thumb in the swirling green haze, a dark maroon beacon. A dark purple mist formed around it, deep red pulsing steadily from within. "What is that," Tucker gasped the words, his lips quivering as he spoke.

"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about this…" Jazz's voice shook, speeding towards the mist.

"You're going in there?! Dude, chill! We can't just rush in there with no plan!" Tucker explained, trying to grab the wheel from her in a hurry.

"Hey! Knock it off, just, get away from the wheel!" Jazz tried to wrestle it back, causing the Speeder to shift furiously. "Just…fine! We'll figure something out, just let go, ok?"

Tucker let go of the wheel hastily, crossing his arms in front of himself, brows furrowing. "Jeez, I get why Danny thinks you're so bossy…"

"Ok! That's it!" Jazz exclaimed, turning to Tucker and grabbing his arms in sheer frustration. "You don't have to like me. Hell, you can hate me! But this isn't about you or me right now. This is about Danny, and Sam, who he kidnapped! So if you could shut your damn mouth for just a few minutes so we can figure this out, that'd be just perfect, ok?!"

Tucker looked at her, back at the mist, then back at Jazz, gulping and smiling hesitantly. "Uh, yeah, ok. Fine, let's figure this out…"

"Thank you!" Jazz threw her hands in the air, looking back at the mist as it pulsated, almost like a heartbeat. "Now, you're right that we shouldn't just rush in there…do you have any plan?"

Tucker took a deep breath, covering his mouth with his hand as he blew the air out slowly, closing his eyes and trying to clear his head. "I…well, we need the Ghost Catcher, that's for sure. If he's possessed, maybe we can separate him from whatever's possessing him. I say one of us gets ready with it, and the other distracts him. Maybe Sam will be ok enough to help out, maybe not, but if she's not, we need to be ready for that too," Tucker explained.

"Ok…so I distract, you get him?" Jazz asked, looking Tucker right in the eyes, offering him a small, determined smile.

"It's like you read my mind," Tucker breathed the words. And with that, Jazz nodded, turning back to the front of the cruiser and accelerating into the mist.

* * *

Sam writhed against 'Danny's grip, his arms wrapping around her small form as his expanded. "Let go of me! Let him go! Get out of him!"

"Samantha Manson," the voice spoke directly into her mind, causing her other senses to dull, as if encapsulating her being. "I've seen within Daniel's mind. I've seen the way he cares for you, and the way you care for him. This could be us. We could rule over our new world together."

Sam shuddered, trying desperately to wake up from whatever trance it was putting her in. With one final shake of her head, she managed, gasping as she looked around them at the void they were caught in. Danny's arms were wrapped tightly around her as they drifted through a maroon fog, swirling with deep purple electricity.

"Where are we? What's going on?!" she called out.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Danny's arms loosened their grip, turning Sam around to look at him before she gasped. Danny's face was white as a sheet, veins raised across his porcelain skin and colored a deep purple. His eyes were pure black, small maroon cracks spreading from the corners and tear ducts. His mouth was frozen in a permanent smile, cracks forming around his mouth while the dark energy sparked through his hair. "I'm opening the portal to my dimension. We can make whatever we want of it. Daniel doesn't have to be a part of it. It'll just be you and me. Just you and me. Just you and me." The voice echoed inside Sam's head, growing louder and louder until it was deafening. She wanted to reach up and cover her ears, but she knew it wouldn't have helped, even if she could pry her arms from his steely grip.

"No! Stop! Let go of me! I don't want this; I'll never want this and there's nothing you can do to make me want it!"

"Oh," Danny's face twisted into an even bigger smile, the space between his teeth oozing dark purple, "we'll see about that."

Before it could do anything else, Sam heard a sound she never thought she'd be so glad to hear — it was Jazz's voice, calling out to them. "Hey, asshole! Get out of my little brother!"

The thing snapped Danny's head around in a one hundred eight motion, staring at the Specter Speeder as it sped closer to the two of them.

"Jazz!" Sam called out, catching a glimpse of the red-haired teen through the Speeder's window, letting herself sigh in relief.

"What did you do?" the voice spoke furiously into Sam's mind, a whisper at first. "What did you do?!" it yelled, making Sam's vision go blurry as her senses dulled again, the anger only fueling it's power over her.

"I…" Sam muttered, head bobbing from side to side as her eyes slowly fluttered closed.

"Sam! Stay with me honey," Jazz called out from the Speeder's speakers, causing Sam's eyes to snap open.

"Hey!" she called out, shaking her head groggily. "Don't call me honey!"

"There she is! Stay with me! We're almost there!" Jazz called out, only enraging the thing inside Danny's body even further. It shuddered, head doing another one eighty and staring into Sam's eyes, smile still disturbingly wide.

"If I'm going down, you're going down with me, Samantha," it spat into her head, another wave of grogginess washing over her as it tangled one of Danny's hands through her hair. It pulled, eliciting a whimper from Sam as her vision went black, overtaken by the thing. "Do you hear me? If I die, so do you!"

Sam felt herself drifting again, realizing she must have been in and out like this the entire time it had her in it's grasp. She could feel the energy traveling through her head, attempting to grab onto anything it could find. Before it could succeed, however, Sam felt something _snap_ around her, her eyes flying open in an instant and immediately finding Danny's bright blue ones.

"Danny!" she cried, clinging to him instantly as she felt something tugging on the back of her shirt. Turning her head back, she let a sigh of relief out as she realized it was just the Specter Speeder's claw bringing them into the vehicle. Looking around her, it was almost like someone had opened up a drain, the maroon and purple energy being pulled towards a single point that both her and Danny were being pulled away from. With a start, she realized the point it was being pulled towards was in the shape of Danny's figure, made up completely of maroon energy and dark purple goo.

"This isn't over!" it yelled into Sam and Danny's head, both of them wincing and crying out in pain. "It will never be over!"

Sam's head began to spin as she looked back into Danny's tearful eyes. He pulled her closer to himself, his lip quivering as he attempted a small smile, only for his eyes to cross before rolling back into his head. "Danny?" she asked groggily, her head spinning the farther away from the energy they were taken. Before she could say anything else to him, her vision went completely black, sending her into unconsciousness.

* * *

Danny felt his eyes open slowly before he could see, his vision going slowly from black to purple to red until he could finally see what was going on around him. With a start, he realized he was back in his parents' lab, strapped down on an examination table. Immediately, his mind went to the worst, his body struggling against the restraints instinctively.

"Let me go!" he called out, voice hoarse. "Let me go! Let me…" his voice quivered, breaking slightly as he began to cry against his will. "Let me go, please, let me…"

"Hey, dude, calm down," Tucker's voice came from next to him, his hand resting on Danny's right shoulder. Danny turned his attention to his friend, eyes now pouring as he shook against the table. "Woah, hey buddy, you're alright, yeah? You're all good, we've just got you strapped down just in case. Now that you're awake, I just have to run a few tests, and then we'll be good to go, ok?"

Danny opened and closed his eyes a few times, mind not entirely registering his words, though his body seemed to relax at his soft tone. "I…where…Sam?"

"Sam, yeah she's…" Tucker trailed off, his head turning over his shoulder and looking back at what Danny thought was a pile of blankets on the other side of the lab. With a start, he realized it was Sam, hunched over with a blanket around her shoulders and a mug in her hand. Jazz was nearby, crosslegged and sitting on the ground with her.

"Sam?" Danny called out, but she didn't seem to register that he was calling to her.

"She'll be alright. I'm more worried about you right now," Tucker explained, drawing Danny's attention back to him. Danny, however, couldn't stop himself from looking back at Sam, flashing images crossing his head. It was her, struggling against him in a wash of red. Then, it was her crying, face painted with fear as she looked at him. Then, they were back in the lab, back where they'd started, and Danny was hyperventilating.

"Sam, I'm so sorry…" he whimpered, closing his eyes and feeling his body shudder.

A series of beeping noises went off around him, and he could hear Tucker call out. "Jazz, come here! He needs more ectoplasm, his systems are failing!"

Danny opened his eyes, though everything was fuzzy and out of focus, so he found himself closing them again.

"Hey, buddy, stay with me," Jazz's voice came from his left, though now even his hearing was in and out.

"We have to call him," Tucker hissed to her.

"No way in hell are we calling him!"

"Uhhh," Danny groaned, his head lolling to the side as he coughed up something wet.

"Ok, ok! Call him, get him over here now! Anything it takes to make him ok," Jazz cried out as Danny's senses faded out once more.

* * *

Vlad looked down at Danny with worry painted across his face. He'd transported the boy to his own private lab in Wisconsin as soon as the other children had called him in a panic. Luckily, he wasn't too far gone to save, though if they'd waited much longer, he would have been gone. Though they had wanted to stay with him, he managed to convince them otherwise, reminding them that their other friend Samantha needed them as well. Danny wouldn't be awake for a while more anyways, while she was awake and traumatized already. While the tests he'd ran on her didn't show anything was wrong physically, he knew she needed extreme care to recover from what she'd been through. And that left him alone with Danny, watching him sleep.

"Oh little badger," Vlad laid a hand on Danny's shoulder, watching him sigh in his sleep. "To think this would be how I got to you. What you've been through, I can't even imagine…"

Vlad took his hand from the young boy's shoulder, circling around him methodically. He looked over at his levels, a small smile springing from his lips when he saw that they were still somewhat stable.

"But you're alright. You're alive. And you're right here," Vlad continued to circle around him, coming to the foot of his bed and looking at his face as he slept, IVs hooked up to his arm. "You're home."

* * *

**_Hey all, sorry I skipped another update, but here you go! This one's a big one, so I hope it makes up for it!_**

**_Anyways, what do you think? I'm taking this story in a very very new direction after this, which I'm excited for! I may have to slow down on my updating schedule soon here as well, but I'll play it by ear and let you all know next chapter, which will still be posted the day after tomorrow._**

**_Thank you so so much to all of the people who favorite, follow, and review! The reviews especially mean the world to me!_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Sam paced anxiously around the Fenton's lab, eyes occasionally catching on Tucker or Jazz, who were watching her with worried looks painted across their faces.

"I just…can't believe you left him there! With him! With Vlad!" Sam yelled, her hands flailing as she spoke, still pacing.

"Sam, we didn't have a choice…" Jazz got up, trying to put her hand on Sam's arm to stop her, but Sam just shrugged it off.

"Of course you had a choice. You could have stayed there, or brought him back when he got better, or…or…"

"Or what?" Tucker asked, exasperated.

"Or I don't know, you could have just not brought him there! I mean, we could've taken care of him! I could've taken care of him…" Sam trailed off, coming to a stop and giving both Tucker and Jazz a tearful look. "I should've taken care of him."

"Oh, Sam," Jazz came over and wrapped her in a hug, immediately bringing her mind back to the death grip that _thing_ had had her in.

"No! Don't touch me!" Sam shrieked, her voice shrill with panic as she pushed Jazz away and onto the floor.

"Jazz!" Tucker flew down to her side, grabbing the redhead by the elbow and helping her to a seated position. "Sam," Tucker looked up at her, "you need to calm down."

Sam eyed the two, wiping the tears from her face and straightening up. "I need to calm down? You two need to be angrier! It'd be better than whatever you're doing now. What, are you dating or something? You're _disgusting_!"

"I—" Tucker started, anger painting his features.

"Tucker, she doesn't know what she's saying," Jazz interrupted, looking sternly at Tucker before offering Sam a soft smile. "You're angry, and that's ok. But Danny's where he needs to be right now. To get better."

"He's not getting better!" Sam yelled, her hands flying up to her hair and tugging on the roots as she spun around the lab. "I feel like I'm going insane, why don't you guys care about this at all?!"

"We do care!" Tucker grabbed her arm elbow, spinning her around to face him. "How _dare_ you! You weren't here when you two were missing. You don't remember how bad it got. Vlad is taking care of him, and I can't believe you can't see that that's a good thing!"

Sam felt her heart beating out of it's chest, Tucker's touch lingering on her arm despite the fact that his hands were nowhere near her now. Her breath got away from her, her vision growing fuzzy. "Stop, stop it! You can't— you don't just— why can't you—" Sam started crying, hands falling to her sides as she hugged herself.

Tucker's eyes went wide, watching his friend start to fall apart right in front of her. "Wait, Sam, I'm sorry—"

"I…no…I don't…I…" Sam stammered, eyes drifting from Tucker to Jazz, who was off the ground now, looking at Sam with worry in her eyes.

"We won't touch you, how about that? But you need to take it easy on us, because we've been through a lot too. How does that sound?" Jazz proposed, voice soft but stern, helping to ground Sam.

"I…yeah…" she sighed, kneeling down before crossing her legs, sitting on the refreshingly cold floor, her breath still heavy, but slowing ever so slightly. She pulled her legs to her chest, hugging them tightly.

"Spread out your limbs. No scrunching up. Feel the cold floor, and spread out. Allow yourself as much room as you need," Jazz said gently, now kneeling next to Sam as she followed the older teen's orders, sprawling out on the ground and closing her eyes tightly, her breath finally beginning to even out. "There you go. You're going to be alright. You just need to breathe."

Sam gulped, nodding and taking a few more deep breaths before letting out a strangled sob. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you."

"I know," Jazz cooed softly. "I shouldn't have touched you. Neither should have Tucker. But we know better now, and we won't do it again. Just breathe."

Sam opened her eyes, looking up at Tucker and Jazz, who were both kneeled next to her. With a start, she realized she was making a scene, sitting up slowly and running her left hand through her hair, a deep blush creeping up her neck. "Sorry…"

"No, don't apologize. I didn't realize how much you went through and how much that thing screwed with you…" Tucker said, smiling nervously at her. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you…"

"I…it's fine…" Sam looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine," she said, trying to convince herself more than anything else.

* * *

Danny opened his eyes slowly, the world fading into focus around him. From his left, he heard a beeping noise, like one of those machines in the hospitals he couldn't remember the word for. Turning to his left, he saw the machine, a heart monitor, he suddenly remembered, and looked down to his arm, which had an IV in it. Turning to is right, he saw none other than Vlad in a rocking chair, staring intently at him. Danny blinked a few times, trying to wipe Vlad's image from his mind. He couldn't, however, assuring that Vlad was in fact sitting next to him.

"Fruit loop, what the hell am I doing here," Danny's voice came out raspy, not even attempting to raise it in his state.

"It's good to see you too, Daniel," Vlad chuckled, rocking in his recliner calmly.

"You didn't answer my question," Danny tried to sit up, only for the breath to be sucked from his at his attempt. "Woah…"

"Ah, yes, you really shouldn't do that," Vlad explained while Danny tried to get his vision to stop spinning. "You've been through quite a lot, little badger. Your friends brought you here, and not a moment too late. You had just minutes to spare before you would have ceased to exist. Very good friends you have there."

Danny took a few deep breaths before being thrown into a coughing fit, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his lips and continuing to stare Vlad down. "What did you do to me?"

Vlad laughed, getting up and sighing cockily. "I'm hardly the problem here, Daniel. Your friends tell me you had a run in with the Nightlace plant. You're lucky to be alive, if they're right."

Danny looked at Vlad for a moment more before closing his eyes and sighing, lip quivering against his will. "That's what it's called? Nightlace?"

"Yes, it is. It has destroyed many ghosts, before your time and before my time. I think your humanity may have been what saved you," Vlad explained, his shoes squeaking around Danny as he opened his eyes, studying Vlad's mildly worried expression.

"No need to get all torn up, fruit loop. I'm fine, no thanks to you," Danny said weakly, blinking a few stray tears from his eyes.

Vlad stomped his foot, turning back to Danny, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "Don't you see, you insolent child! It is all thanks to me! You would have died from your own ignorance if not for your friends bringing you here!"

Danny watched as Vlad covered his face, a small sniffle coming from his direction. Danny looked down at his hands, noticing how pale-grey his skin was, nearly see-through. "I almost died…" he closed his eyes, a shaking breath rattling through his chest. Flashes of what had happened played through his mind, his entire body beginning to shake, the beeping to his left picking up.

"Daniel, you need to calm down," Vlad said, coming to Danny's side and grabbing his arm. As soon as Vlad's skin touched his, he felt himself beginning to shake harder, not able to catch his breath.

"Don't touch me!" Danny yelled, coughing once again and feeling more blood dibble down his chin. "Get away from me!"

Vlad's eyes went wide as he stepped away, moving quickly to a table across the lab and pulling out a syringe. Danny's coughed even harder upon seeing it, his hands coming to his sides as he tried to push himself away from Vlad. "Now now, it's just a sedative, to help you calm down," Vlad said as he hurried to Danny's side, plunging the syringe into his IV and releasing the sedative into his bloodstream. Upon doing so, Danny's vision began to swirl, his head lolling to one side as his breathing began to even. "It'll just put you to sleep for a little while until you calm down enough to be awake."

"I…I…don't want to…" Danny groaned, his breath raspy as he breathed the words out slowly, his vision fading in and out as he struggled to stay awake.

"Trust me, Daniel. It's for your own good," Vlad said, sending Danny into a deep sleep.

As soon as his vision snapped to black, he began to hear wind blowing around him, as if he was in the middle of a tornado. He could feel the sinister energy from that plant, but this time it was all around him, not within him.

"Danny," it whispered in his ears, causing him to shudder. Slowly, a dream plagued his mind, overtaking all of his senses. He was standing in a vibrant red field of tall grass, the sky lilac purple with a glowing maroon orb floating in it. Turning around, Danny came face to face with what looked like him, but…off.

It's skin was a glowing pink with dark purple hair and pitch black eyes. It's suit was the same as Danny's when he was in his ghost form, but instead of the white accents, they were an deep purple with maroon electricity coursing through them. The thing smiled slowly, revealing a toothless black hole. Danny took a few steps back, feeling the electricity tickle the bottoms of his feet. "It's…you…"

"Hi. Good to see you too. Thank's for the form, by the way. It fits me, don't you think?" it asked, spreading its arms wide open and looking down at itself. "Your friend Samantha surely seems to agree."

"Don't you talk about her!" Danny tightened his fists by his side, running towards it frantically before realizing it was as if he was stuck on a treadmill; he kept running forward, but the distance between them remained the same.

"And why can't I? She's to be my queen, you know. This will be our kingdom to rule. And you will be powerless to stop it," it explained, it's grin widening as deep purple goo oozed down from the corners of its lips and towards it's chin.

"Dude, that's like totally nasty," Danny grimaced, deciding not to run towards it anymore, though his heart was still racing against his ribcage. "And she would never do that, anyways."

"And why wouldn't she?" it asked, lowering it's hands and bringing them behind it's back. "I'm better than you in every way. I have all your memories, and I know how you care for her. I can be good for her, and you're the only thing standing in my way — in our way."

Danny felt his blood boil, his fists clenching harder at his sides. "No, I won't let you get to her. You're done messing with us! Just leave us alone!"

"Oh, I'm done hiding in the shadows," it disappeared, reappearing right next to Danny, it's lips right next to his ear. "I'll be everywhere now," it licked the side of Danny's head. As he turned to swat it away in disgust, it was gone, now right behind him as it wrapped it's arms around Danny roughly, pulling him backwards.

"Let me go!" Danny called out.

"I'm already everywhere!" it laughed, letting go of Danny as the teen fell backwards into nothingness, the world around him dissolving into darkness. Suddenly, it's mouth appeared in the darkness, the purple goo oozing down onto Danny. "Now I have to turn everywhere into me, and it'll be perfect! Just imagine it!"

Danny swatted all around him, covered in the goo as it snaked its way around his entire body, letting out a scream as it engulfed him, dropping him back in the field he'd started in. It stood in front of Danny again, this time with it's back to him.

"I've outgrown you," it said, voice harsh. "Your friends helped me realize that when they separated us. They will be revered guests. But you," it's head turned around without the rest of it's body, sending chills down Danny's spine. "You will be my prisoner. You will be powerless. You will feel just how I felt, trapped within you. The difference is that you will never escape." It turned the rest of it's body back to Danny, stalking towards him before moving rapidly and grabbing Danny by his neck, holding him off the ground as he gasped for breath. "You will watch me live your life and you will suffer, just as I did."

* * *

**_Hey all! Really quick, I just want to let everyone know that I'm gonna have to slow down on my updating schedule until I get back in track with writing._**

**_As of right now, I'm stuck on Chapter 15, which is unfortunate, and I'm not quite sure how long it'll take to get where I want to. Until I can start writing chapters consistently again, I want to do a two chapter a week schedule. I'm thinking of updating on Tuesdays and Fridays, meaning my next update would be this upcoming Friday._**

**_Sorry for slowing down on you all, but I hope you can understand where I'm coming from._**

**_So, all that aside, what do you think of this chapter? I really love all the horror moments I get to give this creature, and it only gets more intense from here :)_**

**_Tell me what you think! I read every review, and they make me want to keep going even when I'm stuck (as I am now, lol). _****_Thank you all so much for the favorites, follows, and reviews!_**

**_Until next time, my dudes._**

**_~Ash_**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Sam looked around her, the tall red grass tickling her toes and pulling her safely to the ground, the lilac sky above her glowing as the maroon 'sun' moved gently across it. "Where am I?" she breathed the words gently, not quite able to remember just where she was or how she'd gotten there.

"You're home, Samantha," a sinister voice said from behind her, and Sam jumped around to face it purely out of instinct. Standing before her was something that looked eerily too similar to Danny, as if trying to construct itself after him.

It's face was a patchwork of tanned skin, sewn together with bubbling maroon electricity. It's black hair moved on its own accord with the same electricity lacing itself through it. The rest of it's skin was a tender pink, dark purple veins weaving themselves in and out of it. The most disturbing thing, though, was by far it's eyes and mouth. Where it's eyes should have been were pitch black holes, as if they lead into pure nothingness. It's mouth was the same, a few scattered white teeth sticking out in odd directions as purple goo oozed from the corner of it's burnt red lips.

"What do you think? I'm making myself whole again," it spoke in Sam's mind, causing her to bring her hands to her ears.

"Stop! How did I get here? What is this place?" Sam yelled, looking around her and back at the thing. "What are you doing?!"

It's mouth rotated, doing a full one hundred eighty and stopping when it was a perfect frown. "You don't like this, do you? Don't worry, my love, we can make this world anything you'd like. I promise."

Sam took a few steps back, though her bare feet stuck as the grass hissed, begrudgingly relinquishing it's control on her feet. "No, I don't want this. I don't want you!"

It's mouth flattened out into a line — a perfect rectangle. "That won't do. I'll have to convince you. What do you like? What do you want?"

"I want…not you…" Sam breathed the words out, body beginning to shake.

"It's about him, isn't it?" it asked, taking a few angry steps forward. "I can give you things Daniel could never give you. Let me show you."

It snapped it's fingers before Sam could do anything, bringing her to her bedroom, though the color pallet was still dark purple, maroon, and lilac. Sam looked around her, finding the thing hiding in the corner near her bathroom. "What...?" Sam started uneasily.

"Wait, watch this," it snapped it's fingers again, and Sam's now dark purple door opened, revealing what looked like her parents in the same messed up way it looked like Danny.

"Sweaty," it's voice spoke through her mother. "We love you and all of your choices. We value you as our daughter."

"Darling," this time it's voice sprang from her father, "we really do love you."

"This..." Sam's eyes darted from her 'parents' to the thing in the corner, it's blood chilling 'smile' restored. "This isn't right..."

"But it's what you want, isn't it?" it asked her, tone low and sure if itself. Sam shook her head, unable to bring herself to speak as she watched the puppets dressed like her parents move awkwardly, as if they were massive dolls being controlled by a little kid.

"Come play with us, Samantha," they cooed in it's voice, the sound growing louder in her ears.

"No! Stop that! No!"

Sam sat up in bed, eyes flying open as she looked around her pitch black room. With a start, she realized it was all just a dream, allowing her heart rate to slow once again. A knock came from her bedroom door, and she murmured a halfhearted "Come in."

"Samantha, darling," her father took a small step into the room, his glasses askew on his face. "You need to quiet down. Your mother and I need our beauty sleep."

Sam shuddered at his word choice, nodding shakily. "Sure, dad."

"We'll discuss this in the morning," he said, slamming the door shut and leaving Sam as a shivering mess.

"...Love you too..." Sam whimpered, grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly to her body.

* * *

Jazz and Tucker sat in the Fenton's lab, waiting for Sam to show up. She'd called Tucker and told him that she was going to be late because she was in trouble with her parents, but that she'd be there soon, easing some of the tension when she wasn't there on time. The key word there was _some_, as Jazz and Tucker still found themselves in a deafening awkward silence.

"So…" Tucker said, hand coming up behind his head as he looked over at Jazz, trying to break the ice.

"What?" Jazz asked, looking at him with a steely gaze. Tucker's hands dropped to the ground, and he used them to lean against.

"Oh, nothing…"

"Ok," Jazz said firmly, looking back at the wall as her face twisted in worry once again.

"Well, it's just…" Tucker started, brining Jazz's frustrated attention back to him.

"Spit it out, Tucker," Jazz sighed, blowing a strand of red hair out of her face.

"I just…yesterday, Sam was the second person to assume we were dating. Weird, right?" Tucker chuckled nervously, immediately cringing at his choice of topic.

Jazz's features grew colder, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked away from him for a moment, cheeks glowing bright red. "I didn't think we needed to talk about that," she puffed out a bit of air, hands coming up to her hair and twisting it mindlessly.

"Oh, ok, I just thought it was a funny idea," Tucker laughed nervously under his breath, blowing a bit of air out of his mouth as his face grew warm.

"You'r not my type," Jazz stated, still not looking back at him, attention down at her lap. At that, the flustered heat resting on Tucker's face turned angry, his eyes darting to her defensively.

"Oh, yeah, ok, but Johnny is?"

Jazz snapped her eyes back to him, eyes wide in shock. "I…no, he's not!" she exclaimed when she finally recovered.

"Yeah, well it's just a little crappy for someone to tell you you're not their type to your face, you know?" Tucker said, crossing his arms in front of him now.

"Well, you're not, and neither is Johnny, so just drop it, ok?" Jazz huffed, looking away from Tucker once more.

"Hey! No, I won't just drop it! That was rude and I think you owe me an apology, ok?" Tucker said, watching her eyes snap back to him as her face went red with anger.

"I think I'm a lesbian, ok?" Jazz yelled at him, fists clenched at her sides. "Are you happy?!"

Tucker's face dropped, letting out an anxious chuckle. "O- oh…"

"Yeah, asshole. I'm just figuring it out, so keep it quiet, but if you must know, you're really _not my type_," Jazz explained, shaking her head in frustration and looking back across the lab.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Sam walked down the stairs and into the lab, dropping her backpack and looking between Tucker and Jazz, confusion painting itself across her features. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing!" Jazz and Tucker both said at the same, time, both looking away from one another as Sam jumped up on one of the lab tables, feet dangling lazily.

"Whatever, weirdos. So I was thinking about that thing that possessed Danny and I think I need to find it and kill it."

"Woah, what?" Tucker snapped his attention to Sam, thoughts of his and Jazz's conversation fading away immediately.

"Yeah, I think I just need to kill it. No big deal. Any ideas how?" Sam asked, looking down at her chipped nail polish and continuing to swing her legs back and forth.

"Um, yeah, it _is_ a big deal! What do you mean you need to kill it? I thought we already did that?" Jazz asked carefully, drawing Sam's attention away from her nails.

"I…no, you didn't kill it. It's still in my head and…I don't know…I think Danny might still be in trouble. And I think I just need to kill it. When are we seeing Danny?" Sam asked, looking between Jazz and Tucker as she explained.

"Sam, you're freaking me out. What are you talking about?" Tucker asked, jumping up to his feet and taking a few steps towards the table she was sitting on.

"I don't know. Maybe it's that dream I had last night, or the two extra strength five hour energy's I just took, but—" Sam started.

"Wait, you did what?" Jazz jumped up to her feet as well now, looking at Sam skeptically.

"Yeah yeah, I couldn't sleep, but I really don't think that's it! I think it's out there, and it wants me, and it wants to kill Danny. It told me. When are we seeing Danny again?" Sam asked, picking at her nails rapidly.

"Oh, Sam, you need to calm down. That's way too much caffeine. Did you get any sleep last night?" Jazz asked, pressing the back of her hand to Sam's forehead before the younger teen scoffed, pushing her hand away from her face.

"No touching, remember? Besides, I'm perfectly calm. I just need to see Danny to sort out wether this is just a dream or not," Sam explained, eyes darting about the lab. "And that's why we're here, right? I mean, to go visit Danny."

Jazz furrowed her eyebrows, looking back at Tucker and shaking her head in stress. "Yeah, that is why we're all here today, but I don't know if you're in any state to see him. You're not in a good place right now, Sam."

Sam jumped down from the table, planting her feet and crossing her shaking arms. "Um, I'm in a _totally_ good place right now. And you can't tell me I can't see him. Last time I saw him I don't even remember what happened. I'm worried about him and I need to see him and if you won't bring me then I'll bring myself."

"What are you going to do?" Tucker asked, drawing Sam's attention to himself. "Walk there?"

"Maybe I will!" Sam walked up to him, poking him on the chest and smiling cockily.

"Ok, that's it!" Tucker reared up, only for Jazz to step between them, blocking them from attacking each other.

"Hey! Stop it!" Jazz yelled, stopping both of them in their tracks. "Tucker, no touching! And Sam, you need to chill a little before we go! Got it, you two?" Sam and Tucker both gulped uneasily, nodding in unison. "Good. Now, I'll get the car ready, and we'll leave when you're in a better headspace, Sam. Go take a shower or something, alright?"

"I— yeah, ok, be right back," Sam grumbled, grabbing her bag and storming up the stairs.

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who continues to review - it's really been helping me to keep writing, if I'm being completely honest. I'm still a bit stuck on chapter 15, but I'm moving ahead still, and I have a few more ideas to incorporate for sure!_**

**_I'm really, really excited for some more of the horror elements I plan to incorporate. I've got a few big scenes coming up here which will be pretty cool I think :)_**

**_Please, keep favoriting, following, and reviewing! It all means the world to me._**

**_Until next time, my dudes._**

**_~Ash_**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Sam shook her still damp hair out as they pulled up to Vlad's mansion in the Specter Speeder. Jazz and Tucker had bickered the entire way there while Sam had sat in back, trying to calm her rapid breathing without much success. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see were the meat puppets that thing had turned her parents into, shivering upon the realization that she might have actually preferred the ones it had made to her own, real parents. She pushed that thought aside, however, as the Speeder pulled in to a stop in Vlad's underground lab, the roof closing again.

"Ok, so we're taking him back with us, yeah?" Sam proposed, breaking up yet another one of Jazz and Tucker's quarrels.

"Well...if he's better, then yeah," Jazz sighed, giving Sam a pleading look. "But we have to be prepared for the fact that he might not be better yet, or good enough to come home. He was in really bad shape — that's the only reason we even brought him here. Vlad says if we hadn't brought him over when we did, he would have died."

"But that could be him manipulating us," Sam spoke again, ringing a few droplets from her hair and putting it up in her signature half-pony.

"I don't think so," Tucker explained, getting up as the doors to the Speeder folded open. "He was in really bad shape, Sam. You don't remember, because you were in a bad place too, but his heart stopped a few times..."

Sam stood up now too, looking between Jazz and Tucker before looking down at her combat boots. "Oh..."

"But if he's better," Jazz started softly, drawing Sam's attention back to her, "then he's coming back with us. I promise."

Sam straightened up, nodding and following Tucker as he climbed out of the vehicle, Jazz just behind her. Immediately, Vlad flew down from nowhere, landing and transforming into his human self in front of the three teens.

"Ah, you made it," the older halfa sounded almost disappointed at that fact.

"Yeah, of course we did," Sam took a defensive step forward, feeling Jazz stop her gently with her arm, which was now held out in front of the younger teen.

"Don't mind her, she had too much coffee this morning," Jazz said, shooting Sam an apologetic look before turning back to Vlad, her expression hardening once more. "Where's Danny?"

Vlad sighed, eyeing Sam for a few moments before turning his back on all three of them, his hand motioning silently for them to follow. They did, Jazz leading the way and Tucker walking behind Sam, who kept her gaze on Vlad from behind Jazz. Something about him felt off; it was as if he was genuinely upset, and Sam couldn't help but think what kind of game this must have been to him. The four approached a steely door, Vlad punching in a code and opening it gently.

"Daniel, your friends are here to see you…" Vlad trailed off, his towering figure blocking Danny from Sam's view. As soon as he stepped away, Sam found herself gasping, rushing to his side instinctively.

"Oh, Danny…" she trailed off, examining him carefully as she grabbed his hand in her's. His skin was deathly pale, almost see-through at this point. His eyes lazily fluttered open and closed, as if it was taking all of his effort just to be present with them. His face was even more caved in than Sam remembered it, cheeks dipping dangerously in and accentuating his bone structure. As he tried to smile, he coughed, turning his head to the side. Sam gasped when she saw a dribble of blood fall from the corner of his lips, and he tried to swat it away, embarrassed.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Lemme just…" Danny ended up rubbing his cheek against the pillow, wiping the blood on his pillow sheet. With a start, Sam realized it was just one of many stains. "Hey guys. How long has it been? It feels like a while," he laughed weakly, making an effort not to look at Sam.

"Hey buddy," Tucker waved from behind Sam, his voice uneasy. "Yeah, it's been probably two days. I don't know, it's a little hard to keep track, you know?"

"Yeah, I do," Danny sighed, attention shifting to Jazz, who was standing over Sam's shoulder. "Hey Jazz. How are you doing?"

Jazz sniffled, and Sam realized she must have been crying, though she didn't even so much as spare a glance to confirm her theory. "Don't worry about me, little brother. We're all ok."

Danny sighed, his eyebrows furrowing as he closed his eyes tightly, finally turning to Sam as he let a tear fall down his cheek, gently squeezing her hand and offering her a forced smile. "Hey."

"Hi," Sam breathed, brushing her hand against his face to catch his cheek. Upon doing so, she had to keep herself from flinching back at his extreme fever.

"Well, we should give these two a moment. Follow me, you two," Vlad's voice came from across the room, motioning for Jazz and Tucker to follow him. Sam hardly registered the door closing, leaving just the two of them alone in the small examination room.

"I'm sorry," Danny breathed shakily, attempting to pull his hand away from Sam's.

"No, stop that," Sam grabbed his hand a little tighter, keeping it clasped in her own. "Don't apologize. Especially not now…"

Danny let a small smile grace his pale, cracked lips, licking them quickly. "You're ok. I'm really glad you're alright, Sam."

"Y- you too," Sam stammered, letting a tear fall from her cheek, watching it land on Danny's chest, which was covered in a hospital gown. "How's Vlad treating you?"

"Surprisingly, not too bad," Danny chuckled. "The crazy old fruit loop actually seems worried. I think it's curbing his appetite for my blood, you know?"

Sam smiled, nodding somberly. "Yeah, he does seem a little different. At least he's not running experiments on you, is he?"

"Nope," Danny popped the 'p', rubbing hasty circles in the back of Sam's hand with his thumb. "I don't think so, anyways. I'm kind of in and out lately…"

"That's good, isn't it?" Sam asked, brushing a hair out of her face and looking down at Danny expectantly. "I mean, you're getting some rest, anyways…"

"I think," Danny's brows furrowed again, looking away from Sam as he took another deep breath. "Have you…had any nightmares lately?" Sam's blood ran cold as she froze up, her hand immediately shaking in Danny's hand. Apparently that was all the response he needed as he looked back at her, biting his lip in worry. "That's what I thought. It's still out there. I think Jazz and Tucker gave it it's own form…and I think that form is drawing on mine…"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, eyeing Danny's body before turning her gaze back to his face. Wordlessly, Danny flashed her a toothy grin — though maybe 'toothy' wasn't the right word. Where he used to have a flawless, white smile, he was now missing several teeth, gaping black holes scattered throughout his mouth. Sam gasped, bringing one of her hands to her own mouth.

"Yeah…I've also got some skin missing, according to Vlad. I don't know what it's doing, but he can't figure out where it went…but I've seen it. It's wearing my skin and teeth like accessories," Danny said, slowly growing angrier.

"Calm down, we'll fix this," Sam hushed him quickly before he could get worked up. She took a few strangled breaths, a few sobs escaping her lips without her permission. "Shit, sorry, you don't need this right now…"

"Sam, stop. Of course I need…_this_…" Danny motioned half heartedly to Sam, smiling sadly as she continued to sob. "I need _you_, even if that means your feelings."

Sam nodded, bringing her head down to his chest and softly resting her forehead against his sharp collar bone, letting a few more violent sobs rack her body. "Danny, I want this to stop. How do we get it to stop?"

"I don't know," Danny sighed, bringing his other hand up to stroke her hair gently. Sam started to lift her head, but as soon as she felt him tense up, she stopped moving.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Stay? Please?" Danny asked breathlessly, his hand hovering over her neck. Sam laid her forehead back on his chest, adjusting herself so that she could wrap her arms around his neck, now fully kneeled by his bed. She continued sobbing as Danny stroked her hair, his other hand coming up to wrap around his neck as he sighed, his weak form shaking under her embrace.

"I don't want you to _die_…" Sam whimpered, her voice squeaking at the end.

"I don't want to," he assured her. "We'll fight this, alright?"

"I…" Sam trailed off, her heart sinking in her chest.

"No, listen, I promise you I'll do whatever it takes. I promise," Danny assured her, pulling her closer to him as she found herself sinking into his touch.

"I know. And I promise I'll do whatever I need to to make it better," Sam felt a burst of confidence flutter through her chest. "I promise I'll fix this."

* * *

The moment Jazz, Tucker, and Vlad stepped out of Danny's examination room, Jazz grabbed him by the elbow, forcing her face close to his.

"What the _hell_ are you doing to him?" she seethed, her eyes boring into his.

"I'm trying to save him, but it's not working," Vlad said sadly, his face falling into despair.

Jazz took a dizzy step back, hands curling into fists at her sides. She made eye contact with Tucker, realizing with a start that she was the only angry one of the three. Taking a few deep breaths, she let her fists uncurl, looking back at Vlad with tears eyes.

"What do you mean it's not working," Jazz said, feigning level-headedness.

"Daniel's very ill. There's something feeding off of his very existence, siphoning off pieces of his being..." Vlad trailed off, his shoulders dropping as he rubbed his eyes in worry. "In fact, it's progressed past that point...he's woken up with missing teeth, and missing..._skin_..."

Jazz shuddered, taking a step back. "What do you mean he's missing _skin_?"

"I _mean_," Vlad looked back up at her, "I've had to conduct several skin grafts in just the last day. I don't know where it's going, but it's gone. Something sinister is in the works here. Something very sinister indeed."

Tucker stepped up this time, taking a few steps closer to Vlad as he held back tears. "Fix him," the teen demanded.

"I _can't_..." Vlad's voice quivered.

"Fix him!" Tucker pulled out an ecto-weapon he'd had stashed in his back pocket, pointing it at Vlad as the older man simply sighed in response.

"If you shoot me, it would hurt less than watching Daniel go through this. You may not believe me, but I do care wether he lives or dies. The fact that he's dying isn't easy for me, as I imagine it's not for you."

Jazz covered her mouth with a shaking hand, squeezing her eyes tight and shaking her head. "No, no he's not dying, he's not!"

"I'm so sorry," Vlad said in a hushed tone.

"You...have to be lying," Tucker's voice cracked as he lowered his weapon.

"I wish I was. You may want to say your final words to him, before it's too late," Vlad said slowly, his eyes falling to the ground as the two teens before him began to cry in unison.

* * *

Vlad led the teens back into Danny's room after giving a bit more information Danny's condition. Upon re-entering the room, he found Sam curled agains his form, both of them sharing the twin bed and sleeping soundly.

"Oh, jeez, I can get her up, that can't be good for Danny," Jazz sniffled as she spoke, red eyes darting between Vlad and the sleeping teens.

"No, let them sleep. Daniel's vitals appear to have improved since she arrived, anyways," Vlad explained, eyes scanning the monitor next to his bed. "Sometimes genuine human connection can do that. It seems to have awakened the humanity within him, which is what he needs more than anything right now."

Jazz sighed, eyeing Sam and Danny as the goth girl nuzzled into Danny's side. Her little brother sighed in contentment, his face completely relaxed. "I didn't think we were gone for that long," she spoke quietly.

"Well, it doesn't take long for traumatized people to comfort each other. Especially when those people are teens," Vlad eyed Jazz and Tucker with a small smirk on his face.

"If you're about to tell us how it seems like we're dating, don't even _start_…" Tucker sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as Vlad laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I wouldn't even think of it. You're obviously not Jasmine's type," Vlad started.

"Hey!" Tucker called out in a hushed tone.

"…and even if you were, you two would never start anything now. I know that much. Believe it or not, I do pay attention to these things." Vlad turned to Jazz, smiling sadly. "I pay attention to a lot, my dear girl. Things you may only be now discovering about yourself have been evident from the outside for months now, even if you did not know them yet."

Jazz sighed, looking down at her feet and back at Danny. "What do I say to him? How do I say goodbye? Does he even really know me if he doesn't know…if I never told him…"

"Jazz," Tucker said, taking a step towards her and placing a hand on her arm. "You don't have to come out to him now if you don't want to. But I know Danny, and he's really chill about stuff like this."

"Yeah, with other people maybe, but I'm his _sister_. Don't you think he'd be mad?" Jazz asked, eyes watering as she spoke.

"No," Tucker straightened up, gaze shifting between his best friend and his best friend's sister. "No way in _hell_ he'd be mad. Besides, I'd guarantee he'd much rather talk about this than the fact that he…he's…" Tucker gulped the rest of the sentence back, unable to bring himself to finish it.

Jazz looked back at Tucker thankfully, wrapping him in one of her famous bear hugs. Tucker found himself sinking into it, finding the older sister he never had in Jazz's embrace. "Thank you," she said, squeezing him tighter once more before pulling away and turning back to Vlad. "How much longer does he have?"

"A few days," Vlad answered, looking between Jazz and Tucker with a small look of appreciation. "You're in no rush. Actually, you should probably let him sleep for now, that way he'll be more present with you later, when you…"

"Yeah, ok," Jazz mumbled, realizing she'd inadvertently come out to Vlad in that moment. "Well," she looked back at Danny and Sam, "I should probably go call mom and dad. They need to say goodbye too."

"Go ahead, I'll be right here," Tucker sent her a reassuring glance as she stepped out of the room, phone in hand.

* * *

_**Hey all! What do you think?**_

_**At this point in the story, we're shifting a little bit. I haven't had much time to do much of anything with this story the last two weeks, but I recently had a realization about where I want it to go, and I think you'll all really like it. It's about to get dark, but the next few chapters are a little lighter, so it might be a nice break from all the angst.**_

_**I'm still going to stick with this twice a week updating schedule, but I'll be able to write a lot more in about two weeks, so around that point, I'll speed back up again for sure. Please please please keep on reviewing, I read all of them and they're honestly what's keeping me going in this extremely busy point in my life.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews! It really does mean so much.**_

_**Until next time, my dudes,**_

_**~Ash**_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"What do you mean he's dying?" Sam asked Tucker in a hushed tone just outside of Danny's room. Vlad stood a few feet away from them, and Jazz was still in his room, apparently saying her goodbyes.

"I mean, there's nothing left we can do. None of us. I'm sorry," Tucker went to place a hand in her shoulder reassuringly, only for Sam to take a step back and look over at Vlad.

"He's just saying that. What are you going to do with him when we're out of the way, huh?" Sam spat angrily across the room at the older halfa.

"He's not lying, Jazz and I thought he was right away too," Tucker assured, the bags under his eyes deepening as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You have to believe us. He's going to die."

"No!" Sam yelled now, stomping her boot like a three year old throwing a tantrum. "He's not! You- you're going to keep him alive as long as possible, and I'm gonna go kill it. I swear I can, it won't hurt me and I can wipe it out."

"Sam, we've been over this—" Tucker started, only to be interrupted by Vlad putting a hand in his shoulder, silencing him effectively.

"Wait a moment...Samantha, you know what's doing this to him?" Vlad asked, staring the young goth down.

"I- I...well yeah," Sam sighed, closing her eyes and thinking about the thing as her blood began to boil.

"It's just a guess. She had a dream or something, but Jazz and I destroyed whatever was taking Danny over. It couldn't live without his body," Tucker explained, only for Vlad to look back at him with a stern look.

"That's not necessarily true," he turned his attention back to Sam, giving her a softened version of his gaze. "Please, tell me what you saw."

And with that, Sam retold her dream from the night prior, all the gory details included. She circled back around to the fact that Danny was having these dreams too, causing Vlad to turn back to Tucker.

"And you said that when you separated this thing from Daniel, Sam was caught in the catcher as well?"

"I..." Tucker gulped, looking between Sam and Vlad anxiously. "Yeah, I think so. It all happened so fast, but I'm pretty sure he didn't— it didn't let her go first."

"Remarkable!" Vlad said, grabbing Sam's arm and immediately sending her heart into a frenzy. "You must be tied to Daniel somehow. If I could just run a few experiments, we may be able to track this thing. We could destroy it!"

Sam shook his arm away, trying to steady her ragged breathing with no success. "Don't touch me!" she yelled, closing her eyes as her mind played that thing's appearance in her head as she shook it, hands flying to her temples.

"My dear, I apologize, I surely didn't mean to—" Vlad started.

"Just..." Sam finally caught her breath, taking a few deep gasps and opening her eyes once again. "Don't do that. It's like it lets that _thing_ in and I can't...I can't keep it out..."

Vlad nodded solemnly, though he was unable to hide the twinkle of excitement in his eyes. "Of course. But you must understand, I can help you. We can help Daniel. And if what you're saying is really true, that it won't hurt you, then..." he trailed off.

"Then...?" Tucker asked, looking in confusion between Vlad and Sam.

"Then we might just be able to save his life," Vlad breathed the words out in relief, eyeing Sam with wonder as he turned, motioning for the two teens to follow him deeper into his lab.

* * *

Danny's eyes fluttered open slowly, and immediately he missed the warmth of Sam's body against his. "Sam?" he called out weakly, looking around him to find Jazz's worried face glancing at him.

"She left a few minutes ago. I just wanted to talk to you," Jazz smiled sadly, hands folded on her lap as she sat in a chair pulled up to the bed. Danny studied her face for a moment before sighing.

"I'm dying, right?" he asked.

"I...well...I..." Jazz stammered, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Yeah. I figured…" Danny laughed nervously, coughing a bit and bringing his hand up to cover his mouth as he did so.

Jazz took a shaky breath, attempting to clear her misting eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize," Danny said, bringing his hand away from his mouth and wiping it on the bedding under the blanket that covered his legs. "It's not your fault."

"Well…I guess…" Jazz sniffled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as he lips began to quiver.

"Oh, Jazz, hey, come here," Danny said, bringing Jazz down for a hug and leaning in to her embrace. He wrapped his arms around her weakly, closing his eyes as she began to shake gently.

"You- you shouldn't be com- comforting me," Jazz stammered, letting the tears fall down her face.

"Hey, it's fine. You're upset, right?" Danny sighed when Jazz pulled away, eyes going to her's as her gaze softened.

"I'm just…I didn't think it would end this way…you know?" Jazz said softly, shooting Danny an endearing look.

"I…what do you mean?" Danny asked, brows furrowing in confusion.

"I just mean that you risk your life everyday. I always thought that if you…if anything happened to you because of the ghosts, I thought it would be all at once. But here you are, and it's slow, and it's _painful_, and I'm just…so _sorry_…" Jazz trailed off again, closing her eyes and licking her lips slowly before opening them and staring at Danny with steely intensity. "I called mom and dad."

"You…you _what_?!" Danny asked, sitting up and immediately regretting it, his entire body shuddering as he found himself slumping back down, the world spinning from over-exertion. "What did you…you- you tell them?"

"Danny," Jazz grabbed his hand, softening her gaze just a bit. "They need to know before you…"

Danny gulped, closing his eyes and leaning back against the bed. "So you told them? About everything?"

"No, not yet. But if you don't, I will tell them. They're driving back now, and they'll be here by tomorrow for sure. I just…there don't need to be any secrets anymore, you know?" Jazz watched as Danny's eyes fluttered open once again, his face far paler than it had been when she'd come in.

"Secrets…" he groaned, shaking his head as a few tears began to stream down his face, getting caught in the dips in his cheeks. "They're gonna hate me, Jazz. You don't understand. You don't…"

"I kind of do…" Jazz said, reaching up and wiping the tears from his face, smiling sadly as Danny turned his attention back to her.

"What- what do you mean?" he sniffled, brows furrowing once more. "There's no way you could know. They'll forgive you for helping me. They'll never forgive me for _being_ me."

"Danny, that's not necessarily-"

"Jazz, you don't get it," Danny began to hyperventilate, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he tried to calm himself

Jazz took a deep breath, looking down at her lap. "I…think I'm a lesbian, Danny. And I wanted to wait a little longer to tell you, but I just…I can't have you…I…"

Before Jazz could finish, Danny's eyes snapped open. He shook his head, opening and closing his mouth gently before he reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Jazz…" he breathed the word, arms wrapped around the back of her neck.

"You're not…" she asked, arms still in her lap.

"No, I'm not mad. I love you, I…_thank you_. Thank you so so much for telling me," Danny said, sinking into Jazz's embrace as she wrapped her arms around him, giving him yet another one of her famous bear hugs.

"I love you so much, little brother," Jazz said, letting the tears flow openly now.

"Love you too," he responded, still caught in her tight hug.

* * *

Jazz stepped out of Danny's room, closing the door softly behind her and wiping her red eyes. "Ok, he's asleep again, but…_what_ are you guys doing?"

As she looked around, she saw Tucker and Vlad working away on some sort of machine, Sam hovering behind them and pacing, her boots squeezing against the linoleum floor as she did so.

"Vlad has this idea, we might be able to help Danny," Tucker said, not looking up from his work.

"Nonsense, it's all thanks to Samantha's insight the idea even came to me," Vlad scoffed, hardly sparing Jazz a glance. Jazz looked over at Sam, who had stopped pacing and simply motioned for Jazz to come over to her. Jazz followed suit, wiping any remains of tears from her eyes as she stood behind the boys while they continued to work.

"What's going on?" Jazz asked quietly, afraid to disturb them.

"I told Vlad about my dream. Danny said he had one like it too. He thinks that thing didn't disappear when you guys separated it from Danny, but that it just formed it's own form. He thinks he can track it down, and if I can get in there and destroy it…" Sam explained.

"Wait a minute, it's still out there? And you want to…" Jazz looked at the boys before looking back at Sam, "…you want to fight it? Are you kidding me? It'll kill you!"

Sam closed her eyes for a second before turning her entire body to Jazz, opening them again. "It won't. It…I think it…_loves_ me…" she shuddered at that sentiment, shaking her head quickly and moving on. "It wants me to rule with it. I think if I go along with it, just long enough to get close, I could…maybe…_destroy_ it."

Jazz's mouth hung open as she registered exactly what Sam was saying. "That's…disgusting! No, there's no way. How would that even help Danny?"

"We think that thing is what's siphoning Danny's energy," Tucker finished what he was working on, turning back to look at Jazz and pushing his glasses farther up his face.

"By destroying the thing that is sapping his energy," Vlad began, still working on his project, "we can focus in on his wounds, and we may actually be able to cure him of his ailments. It may be risky, but it also might just work."

Jazz looked between the other three in the room, her mind flying with possibilities. "I…_ok_. What can I do to help?"

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_I'm really excited for what's to come! Fair warning — I wrote the next few chapters when I was in a bit of a rut, both in writing and just day to day. Don't worry, though, I'm much better now and I've been writing half a chapter a day for the last few days, so things are definitely looking up!_**

**_From here, we've got some subtle angst and drama before we get back into the horror of it all, so stay tuned! There is more creepiness coming._**

**_Thank you so so much to everyone who leaves reviews. When I was really struggling to write, I looked at those reviews to keep me going. They really do mean the world to me!_**

**_Please keep on favoriting, following, and reviewing! I appreciate every single one of you who do so :)_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

Sam pulled the final piece of the armor Tucker and Vlad had constructed onto her right arm, sighing as it whizzed and whirred in response, constricting itself flush against her skin. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, looking back to Vlad for approval. Both Jazz and Tucker were in the other room, talking to the Fentons, who had arrived just minutes prior.

"It fits. My best suit of armor…" Vlad circled around Sam, his hand on his chin as he examined the black and red accented armor. "…on a teenage girl."

Sam huffed, turning to Vlad, who was now standing to her side and crossing her armor clad arms in front of her. "And your point?"

"I just wish _I_ got the chance to use it…" Vlad sighed, refusing to meet Sam's angry gaze and instead focusing on the armor. "And you're sure that thing would destroy _me_? And it won't destroy _you_?"

Sam's entire body stiffened at that, finally drawing Vlad's gaze back to her face as her mouth opened and closed a few times before she turned her misting eyes to her feet. "You didn't see it. You didn't hear it. Besides, with our luck, it would just infect you, too. Nobody needs that," Sam choked the words out, swallowing the sandpaper lining her throat.

Vlad cleared his throat, bringing Sam's attention back up to him. "I believe you. I apologize for my scrutiny, it's just difficult to see my work of art and not to become a part of it."

"O- ok," Sam gulped again, nodding slowly.

"You're going to do just fine, Samantha," Vlad smiled in what Sam assumed was meant to be a genuine manner, though it came off as more of a creepy smirk.

"Oh, um—"

"I do care about Daniel. I…you and your friends, Jasmine, you don't believe me," Vlad sighed, looking down at his shoes as he began pacing idly, "I know that."

"No, I _don't_ believe you…" Sam said slowly, flexing her grip in the suit of armor and listening as the mechanisms calibrated themselves. "If it was up to me, we wouldn't be working together."

Vlad chuckled under his breath, shaking his head and looking back up to Sam with a twinkle in his eye. "I know. But I'm glad we are. I truly do believe that together we may be able to save him. I know that's all you really want, isn't it?"

"That's what _all of us_ want," Sam said defensively.

"But you want _more_," Vlad looked into her eyes as he spoke, his gaze unwavering.

Sam took a shaking step back, wrapping her arms around herself and shaking her head, eyes watering against her will. "Stop. Just…what are you doing?"

"I don't mean to upset you," Vlad's eyes filled with worry as he furrowed his brows. "I just mean that I see the way you look at each other. You know," Vlad chuckled lightly, "when you were sleeping next to him, his vitals were the best they've been since he got here. Love will do that. And you two are lucky. You _love_ each other, I can see it. If only I was that lucky…" Vlad trailed off, sad eyes looking down at the ground.

Sam sighed, arms still wrapped tightly around herself as she closed her eyes, a single tear falling down her cheek. "If he dies I don't know what I'd do. I can't let that happen. I really…can't let him die…"

Vlad put a hand on her arm, startling her and making her jump back before realizing that he was just trying to comfort her. "We won't let that happen. Even if…trust me," Vlad's gaze turned dark as he spoke quieter now. "There are ways to keep him alive, and if it comes down to it, you can trust me to exhaust them all. He _will_ live."

Sam swallowed harshly, nodding and shaking his hand off of her. "Ok."

* * *

Tucker and Jazz were both sitting in the same side of an old table they'd found in Vlad's lab, Maddie and Jack Fenton both seated across from them. They'd claimed a room just down the hall from Danny's, and right next to the room Sam was suiting up in.

"What's going on," Maddie spoke firmly, looking directly across the table at her daughter as Jack nodded along with her.

"Yeah, where's Danny?" he asked, taking another look around the room before turning to Tucker, who was seated directly across from him. "And why are we in Vladdie's lab?"

Jazz gulped, ringing her hands in uncertainty and looking to Tucker for support. He nodded at her, shooting her a reassuring look before she turned back to her parents, sighing and bringing her eyes to meet her mother's. "Danny's dying."

"Danny's _what_?!" Maddie jumped up, hands slamming down on the table and turning to her husband, then back at her daughter. "Jasmine Abigail Fenton, you tell me what's going on this instant!"

Jazz flinched at the use of her full name, biting her lower lip as it began to quiver. "He- he- he's…"

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," Tucker interrupted, shooting Jazz a sympathetic look before turning back to her parents. "It…it's really complicated and I think you need to talk to Danny more about it, but…he _is_ dying right now…"

Jack slammed his fist on the table, glaring right at Tucker. "What are you talking about?"

Tucker shrunk back, leaving Jazz to take over once again. "Dad, he's dying. There…there was an accident and…I don't even know how to say this without…he's going to die. And there might be something we can do about it, but…there also might not be…"

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but where is Vlad? I can't— we can't…I just need to talk to an adult."

Jazz took a deep breath, trying not to fly off the handle at that sentiment. "He's busy getting something ready for…I don't know, it's hard to explain, I just wanted to let you know before you go in and see Danny so you're not…taken off guard…"

Jack shook his head, meeting Maddie's eyes before they both nodded and looked back at their daughter. "Ok," Jack sighed, "Where is our Danny?"

Jazz nodded, wiping her runny nose and blinking back tears as she made eye contact with Tucker, who nodded and got up with her. Together, they opened the door and walked down the hall, Tucker jumping a bit when a clanging sound came from the room next door.

"I said gentle! _Gentle_, Samantha! No, you're— stop that, you're destroying my lab!" Vlad's voice came from the door as the four of them slowed to a stop outside of it.

"I'm just trying to get the hang of it— ow! Shit, that hurt!" Sam's voice rang through the hall, a few crashes scattered across their dialogue.

"You insolent child!" Vlad yelled.

"You insolent _asshole_!" Sam called out in response. At that, Tucker cleared his throat, bringing the Fentons' attention back to him.

"Um, he's just down this way…" he trailed off, continuing now to walk down the hall as the other three followed uneasily. Upon coming to Danny's door, Tucker gulped, making eye contact with Jazz once more before opening it and letting Jazz, Maddie, and Jack in. Immediately, Maddie gasped, rushing over to Danny's bedside.

"Oh, Danny…" she cooed, wiping her hand over his burning hot forehead. His skin was a deathly grey, a mild green glow settling over his sweat. His cheeks were caved in, his eyes bugging out of his face as he blinked a few times, giving a small smile and revealing his scattered missing teeth.

"Hey, mom," he coughed a few times, not even bothering to wipe the droplet of blood running down the corner of his mouth anymore. Maddie wiped it away hastily, her eyes scanning his weak form gently.

"I- I- what- what happened to you…?" she looked over at Jack, then Jazz, then back to Danny while Tucker left the room silently.

Danny sighed, his breath rattling in his chest as he looked between his parents and his sister, eyes closing slowly before he snapped them open once more, a touch of neon green glimmering before fading slowly.

"Danny, my boy, was this a ghost?" Jack asked, circling around his bed and kneeling next to him, grabbing Danny's skin and bone hand in his large, meaty ones.

Danny shuddered, shaking his head weakly. "I…not exactly…I…" his eyes snapped up to Jazz as she shot him a supportive smile, nodding and wiping a tear from her eyes. "I…_am_ the ghost boy…"

"No, sweetie, you're delirious from the fever," Maddie brushed his head again sympathetically before turning back to Jazz, eyes pleading. "That's all this is, right? It's the fever…" upon seeing Jazz's serious expression, her gaze faltered. "Isn't it?"

"I— just listen to him," Jazz pleaded, motioning back to Danny as he took another shaking breath.

"Mom, dad, there was an accident about a year ago…" Danny started, his voice cracking, causing him to clear his throat hastily. "The ghost portal…I stepped in and it, well, sort of messed with my genetics. I can…turn into a ghost. And I have been. The ghost boy, that was me, all this time, and I was really just trying to help, you have to believe me. I should've told you, but I just…"

Jack dropped his son's hand, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Danny, what…that _can't_ be…"

"It's true," Jazz interjected, biting her lip and shaking her head unsteadily. "I…I found out a few months ago and…well, Sam and Tucker and I have been helping him get the ghosts who come through the portal."

Maddie shook her head, sighing and bringing Danny's attention to her face as her eyes began to tear up. "Oh, Danny," she threw herself into a hug over him, squeezing him lightly before drawing back. "I'm so sorry. We…we should've _known_…what kind of parents were we to miss all of this!"

"It's ok! Really! At least, it was until…" Danny trailed off, making eye contact with Jazz again.

With a sigh, Jazz stepped forward, recapping everything that had happened with the ghost-nip, apparently called Nightlace, as Danny pointed out when he interjected. Jazz finished explaining everything, wiping a few tears from her eyes and looking between her parents as their sad gaze lingered on Danny.

"Sam can't go in there alone, I'm going with her," Maddie decided, standing up and heading towards the door before Jazz reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her effectively.

"Mom, you can't. You haven't seen this thing…it'll kill you. Sam…it has a soft spot for her, and she thinks she can get close enough to it to take it down. Vlad's finishing the camouflaging mechanism on the armor he and Tucker made so it won't see anything suspicious until it's too late. It's going to work, but if we send everyone in — or even someone else — it just _won't_…"

Maddie crossed her arms, staring her daughter down before turning her gaze back to her husband. "Jack—"

"They might be right Maddie," Jack said, looking over at Danny, who had closed his eyes in pain at some point during Jazz's explanation. "But we can work with Danny and Vladdie here to make him better, don't you think, Mads?"

Maddie sighed, obviously displeased with the idea of working with Vlad. "I guess. But we're leaving the children out of it from now on."

"No, mom, Tucker knows what he's talking about," Jazz said, staring her mom down now. "He's been working on all of this from the beginning, he has to stay involved. And I'm not leaving, mom, I'm just not. You don't get to make that kind of call."

"I don't get to—" Maddie laughed in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm the _parent_ here!" She pointed back and forth between herself and Jack. "We're _both_ the parents here, and you don't get to tell us what to do!"

"Yeah, well this is Vlad's lab, and he has the right to kick you out. He knows that Danny needs all of us. Why can't you get that through your head?!" Jazz yelled.

"Why can't I— we just found out about everything a few minutes ago! This might be normal or _whatever_ for you," Maddie waved her hands in the air as she said that, "but it's brand new to us, so you need to cut us some slack, alright?!"

Jazz sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and beginning to pace. "Alright. _Sure_, but just because you're adjusting doesn't mean that you get to come in here and tell us what to do. We could use your help, but believe it or not, we don't need it."

Jack stood up now, grabbing Maddie's arm and spinning her to look at him. "Jazz is right, Mads. We need to take it slow; follow their lead. We need to do whatever we need to help Danny. That's all that matters," he looked back at Danny, who was fast asleep at this point, his soft breath wheezing in his chest.

"I…" Maddie looked between her children and her husband, nodding with teary eyes before looking back at Jazz. "Alright, how can we help."

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_It's the big reveal! I really didn't intend on writing this when I first started this story but with where I wanted to end up, this scene really needed to happen. So how do you all like it?_**

**_As far as updates from here on out are going, I'm still sticking with the two a week schedule - as you all could probably tell by the fact that I'm only updating twice a week. After next chapter, the horror really picks up again, so if that's what you came for, don't worry! There's definitely more to come!_**

**_Thank you so much to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews! I especially appreciate the reviews - they keep me writing in even my darkest and busiest times._**

**_Until next time, my dudes_**

**_~Ash_**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Vlad adjusted one last piece of Sam's armor before taking a step back and watching it's appearance morph into her own clothing. Sam looked down at her arms and the armor over it as it flickered into invisibility. She looked back up, locking eyes with none other than Maddie Fenton.

"Are you sure about this? I can change into it, it'll only take a moment—" the mother began, her voice growing more and more shaky as she spoke.

"No, I have to do this, Mrs. Fenton," Sam jumped in, offering her a small smile and taking a deep breath. "I'm the only one that _thing_ won't kill on first sight, and we can't risk anyone else coming with. It has to be me."

"And if it doesn't work?" Maddie asked, stepping forward and grabbing Sam's hand, her hand seemingly resting a few centimeters away from Sam's skin. Sam squeezed back, the invisible armor gripping her hand.

"It will. It has to. Danny's dying and this is the only way to make sure everything turns out ok," the young goth girl explained.

"Besides, we'll be on the intercom the entire time, so if she's in trouble, we can get in there and help her out," Tucker explained, putting on a headset and feigning a smile. "Testing, testing."

"Hey," Sam grabbed the invisible armor around her head, shaking it and glaring at him. "Not while I'm in the room! There's feedback."

"Oh, yeah, sorry! I forgot."

Vlad stepped forward, grabbing the armor around Sam's shoulder and sending her a sad smile. "Do you need anymore practice? Anything else from us?"

Sam took a deep breath, looking around at everyone else in the room with her. She'd spent the bulk of the day before getting used to the armor before the Fentons took over and made a few adjustments, adding an invisibility component to make sure the thing wouldn't notice anything suspicious. Jazz smiled kindly at her, her eyes still a bit red from crying. Tucker was calibrating his headset, occasionally turning back to Sam and nodding reassuringly. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had arms around one another, smiling sadly at Sam, and Vlad was off to the side a bit, his eyes scanning her figure once more before meeting her eyes. His voice rang in her head once again, repeating his sentiment from the day prior. _'There are ways to keep him alive, and if it comes down to it, you can trust me to exhaust them all. He will live.'_

"I just…I need to see Danny before I go. Then, I'll be ready," Sam explained, eyes turning to the door as she sighed.

"Of course," Jazz sniffled, nodding and opening the door, motioning for Sam to follow her. The others stayed in the lab as the door closed, and immediately, Sam could hear them mumble nervously behind it.

"They have to know I can hear them," Sam half laughed, trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes only for the invisible armor on her hand to scratch her face, eliciting a slight wince.

"Adults are weird," Jazz sighed as they walked down the hallway.

"Tucker's in there too," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, well Tucker's weird, too."

"You've got a point…" Sam trailed off as they reached the door to Danny's room. Jazz took a deep breath, turning back to Sam and nodding.

"Ok. Go ahead. We'll get the Specter Speeder ready, and hopefully mom and dad's reconfiguring of the boo-merang will work. Just meet us back in the other room when you're ready, and then we can…get this over with, I guess."

Sam nodded, turning to the door before turning back to Jazz and throwing her arms around her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry. I'm going to try my best, but if it doesn't work…I'm just so sorry," Sam breathed the words, still hanging on tightly as Jazz slowly brought her arms around Sam, hugging her tightly.

"Sam, I…_thank you_. For everything you do for my little brother. You're like the sister I never had, you know. Thank you for being a part of my _family_," Jazz said softly, pulling away gently and smiling at Sam, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

Sam nodded, smiling at Jazz once more before turning back to the door and taking one last deep breath. With that, she opened the door, taking a few steps in and finding herself gasping.

Danny was laying on his bed, though he hardly looked like himself. His face was now a pale grey, devoid of any other color. His hair was greying at the roots as well, and his eyes had turned a pale color of blue. As soon as Sam stepped in, her armor clad foot clinking against the concrete floor, Danny's gaze snapping to her, and he offered her a closed lip smile.

"Hey Sam."

"H- hey Danny," Sam stuttered, clearing her throat and stepping further into the room and towards him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm dying. How about you?" Danny gave a slight laugh, eliciting a small smile from Sam's lips.

"Like I'll probably die," she sat on the side of his bed, carefully taking off one of the invisible gloves if the armor and watching it gain shape and opacity again. She set it in the bedside table, using her now armor-free hand to grab Danny's hand. She bit back a gasp at how frail and bony it felt, opting for a small smile instead.

"You don't have to do this. I..._please_, you can't die for me," Danny's voice broke, his brows furrowing as he locked eyes with her.

"It's not up to you," Sam sighed, smiling softly. "If I just let you die knowing I could have done something...I could never live with myself, Danny. I don't know if you understand."

"I _do_. I get it. I've done it before, with the Ghost King. But you don't have to do this, please," he squeezed Sam's hand lightly, closing his eyes with effort at even the smallest movement.

"Hey, you know I'm not going down without a fight. That thing won't kill me right away anyways. I stand a really good chance," Sam feigned confidence, drawing his gaze back to her.

"You think?"

"I know."

Danny took a deep breath in before letting it out, turning towards Sam and resting his head in her lap. She carefully took off her other glove, wrapping her arms around his small frame and sighing deeply.

"Sam...I'm _scared_," his voice quivered as he spoke.

"Yeah, me too. But I'll be alright, and so will you. I promise. And when I come back here, we'll get things back to normal, you and me. And Tucker and Jazz. And I guess your parents, and Vlad..." Sam trailed off as Danny chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, I guess there's really no normal after all this."

"Then we'll make a new normal. We did it when you got your powers, when Jazz found out, and now we've just gotta do it again. Everything's gonna be ok."

Danny sighed once more as Sam slowly shifted, getting ready to get up. He pulled his head away, resting it on a pillow once more and allowing Sam to get up, squeezing her hand again. "I'll be back soon. Don't give up on me now, ok?"

"I— ok. I promise," Danny's gaze locked on her's with an intensity she hadn't seen from him in a while. She nodded, grabbing the gloves of the armor and sliding them on with ease.

Sam turned her back, getting ready to leave the room when Danny cleared his throat from behind her. She turned her head over her shoulder, watching as Danny looked at her with furrowed brows once more.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Danny's gaze was unwavering as he spoke, his eyes locked on her's once more.

"I..." Sam took a deep breath, blinking tears from her eyes. "I love you too."

And with that, she turned around completely, walking out of the door before she broke down in tears.

* * *

"She's in the Ghost Zone now," Vlad said slowly, drawing Jazz, Tucker, Maddie, and Jack's attention to him.

"Oh, good," Maddie sighed, watching the radar map over Vlad's shoulder. "Why did it take so long for her to get there?"

"Time is flowing differently in the Ghost Zone right now…" Vlad trailed off, his brows furrowing as he spoke.

"Why's that, Vladdie?" Jack asked, joining his wife in looking over Vlad's shoulder.

"I think…it appears to be coming from where the boo-merang honed in on…" Vlad trailed off, typing away furiously on his machine and pulling up the image of a deep red vortex in the middle of the Ghost Zone.

"Holy shit, what's that!" Tucker exclaimed, looking at the radar now as well.

"Wait, what's what?" Jazz peaked at the screen now, gasping upon seeing the vortex in the middle of the screen.

"I think that's what that _thing_ made," Vlad sighed, shaking his head slowly. "It's powerful. It has to be feeding off of Daniel's energy as we speak. There's no other way to power it, unless…"

"Unless...?" Maddie asked, looking at Vlad as he turned his attention back to her, then to Jazz and Tucker.

"You said Daniel transported Skulker in there the other day, did you not?" Vlad asked.

"Um, he portaled him somewhere, but I don't know where, exactly…" Tucker trailed off, a look of confusion washing over his features.

"Well, what if it transported the hunter to…wherever this vortex leads to? The only thing strong enough to feed that kind of energy is—" Vlad began.

"Another ghost's eco-energy! Of course!" Tucker exclaimed, looking back at the screen. "Skulker must be in there! That's how it's powering…whatever that thing is!"

Maddie took a look at the readings on the screen, brows furrowing in confusion. "Ecto-energy? Danny doesn't have..." Tucker, Vlad, and Jazz all turned to her, causing the worried mother to sigh and shake her head. "Wow. I can't believe we never knew."

"He kept his secret well, mom," Jazz explained, offering her a small smile.

"Well still, I should've been there. I'm his mother. He shouldn't have..._you_ shouldn't have had to go through this alone," Maddie sighed, leaning against one of the lab tables before turning to her husband. "How didn't we figure it out, Jack?"

"Oh, Maddie…" Jack cooed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly. "What's important is that we help him now."

"I suppose…"

"She's getting closer," Vlad interrupted the worried parents with a scowl, drawing their collective attention back to the screen as Sam's tiny blip closed in on the vortex.

"Oh, Sam..." Jazz sighed, hugging herself tightly and biting her lip. Tucker reached out and grabbed her hand, not even bothering to meet her gaze as he squeezed her hand tightly.

"She'll be ok," Tucker said, eyes still focused on the screen as Sam closed in on the vortex.

"You think so?" Maddie asked, turning to look at her daughter, her brows furrowing when she saw she was holding hands with none other than Tucker.

"I _know_ so. Sam's strong. We've been through a lot together," Tucker explained, gaze still focused on the screen as he kept a tight grip on Jazz's hand.

"We _all_ have," Jazz explained, turning her attention to her mother. Immediately, Jazz followed Maddie's gaze, looking down at the hand Tucker was holding and shaking her own hand free from his grip.

"What—" Tucker started before turning back to Jazz, who motioned towards her mother. Instantly, Tucker's voice died in his throat, a small gulp taking it's place as he looked back at the screen, a bit of heat creeping up his neck.

"I'm _sure_ you've _all_ been through a lot together," Maddie's voice took on a judgmental tone as she kept her gaze on Jazz, who was still staring at her mother.

"Of course they have, Maddie!" Jack interrupted the exchange, completely oblivious as his eyes stayed glued to the radar. "How long until she—"

Before Jack could finish his question, an alarm blasted overhead, causing everyone to look around them. "Vlad? What's that?" Tucker asked shakily as everyone's attention turned to Vlad.

"Daniel..." Vlad trailed off, his eyes meeting Maddie's before he turned, running out of the room.

"Danny?" Maddie asked in shock, watching as everyone else ran after him before willing her feet to carry her with them. "What's wrong with Danny?!" she yelled after Vlad, who pushed open the door to Danny's room. Immediately he gasped, hands flying over his mouth.

"I..." Vlad trailed off, allowing everyone else to step into the room. Maddie was the last to make it, her eyes flying to the empty bed pushed up against the wall.

"Where's Danny?" she asked slowly as soon as her voice returned to her.

* * *

Danny laid stiffly on his back, a sharp groan erupting from his lips as his eyes fluttered open slowly. Immediately, his head began to spin opposite of his vision, causing him to turn over and vomit on the ground next to him.

"Hey Dipstick, you're up," a soft voice came from next to him. As Danny's vision cleared slowly, he found himself propped up on one of his elbows, staring right at a ghostly girl with pale blue skin and glowing green eyes.

"Who...are you?" he breathed the words out slowly, looking around carefully before turning his gaze back to her fully. "Where am I? Who..._who_ am I?"

* * *

**_Hey all! So sorry about the late update - things have been a little more than busy as of late._**

**_What do you think?! This is when the plot line really picks up again, I've got a few horror scenes coming up, along with a few battle scenes! I'm so excited for you all to see what I've been working on!_**

**_Due to posting this late, I'm going to move the next update to Wednesday, then we'll be back to Fridays and Tuesdays again._**

**_Thank you so so much to those who review. You honestly keep me going in these really busy times!_**

**_Please continue to favorite, follow, and of course, review. They all really do mean the world to me._**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Sam flew through the Ghost Zone in the Specter Speeder, the world around her a shifting green mass as she followed the radar Vlad had set up for her. For some reason, it was taking far longer than she'd anticipated, but she didn't mind; the longer she flew into the Ghost Zone, the more she began to doubt herself. What if she wasn't strong enough to stand up to that thing? Or worse, what if she could stand up to it, but couldn't defeat it? What if Danny died and it was all her fault?

Sam pushed those thoughts from her head once more, biting her lip in an attempt to feel something — _anything_ — other than pure terror. As soon as she shook herself from her thoughts, she noticed something in the distance — a dark red blip in the horizon. With a gasp, she realized that that was where the speeder was directing her to go, the revelation causing a lump to slide down her throat and into the pit of her stomach.

"Shit," Sam said through clenched teeth, shaking her head and taking a few deep breaths. "No, you've _got_ this. I know you do. You'll be fine."

"Sam? Sam! Do you copy!" Tucker's frantic voice came through the radio on the Speeder's dash, causing her to instinctively open her eyes.

"Yes? Tucker, what's the matter?" Sam asked quickly, trying to keep any worry from her voice.

"It's Danny—" Tucker began, though Sam couldn't catch the end of his sentence as the Speeder trembled, the dash going haywire. Sam's attention flew down to the readings around her as she hastily tapped a few buttons, trying desperately to get the radio working again.

"Tucker? Hang on, there's something wrong…" Sam trailed off, sparing a look through the windshield and consequently finding herself paralyzed in shock. The red blip in the horizon she'd seen before was now right in front of her, as if she'd been transported there in just a few moments. With a start, she realized she was heading right for the dark maroon clouds as they funneled around her, a vortex of sorts. "What the—?"

"Ah, Samantha. Good to see you," Sam instantly recognized the voice that spoke directly into her ears, her hands flying up instinctively in an attempt to block out the sound.

"What— where am I?" Sam called out, the controls on the speeder continuing to go haywire before completely shutting off with one final _click_. "Shit shit shit," she murmured as she quickly tapped away again, this time with no reaction from the machine whatsoever.

"Ah, yes. Your Specter Speeder. It's a lovely vessel, don't get me wrong, but now you don't need it. I'll bring you the rest of the way, my queen. Then, we can finally be together," the voice spoke in Sam's head once more, causing her senses to go numb for half a second before she shook herself out of its grip.

"You—" Sam began, ready to fight back against it before she took a deep breath, a realization washing over her. It wanted her close to it, which was exactly where she needed to be in order to fight it. "I...am. I'm here for _you_. But I need to stay in the Speeder, at least until there's a stable atmosphere for me."

"Of course," its voice purred in her ears like a cat being hit with a baseball bat. "Just let go, my darling. I'll bring you to my world safely, then we can be together at last."

As it spoke in Sam's mind, she felt herself drift slowly into its control, her senses going completely numb as her eyelids began to grow heavier. "But..."

"Shh," the sound snapped Sam's eyelids closed as her head began to spin, her neck unable to support it as it lolled into her shoulder. "Just rest for now, my love. You'll be home soon."

And with that, everything went numb, devolving into complete and utter darkness.

* * *

Danny spat a bit of ectoplasm from his mouth, wiping away what was left of it with his white gloved hand. "For the last time, you _idiot_, I don't know who you're talking about!"

"I'm talking about you, ghost boy!" the ghostly hunter, Skulker, sneered once more, cocking his fist to punch Danny again.

"Stop it! Skulker, he doesn't remember anything, you dumb-ass!" the blue skinned ghost, Ember, stepped between the two, catching the larger ghost's fist with both of her hands and tossing him aside easily.

"You stupid pop star, I swear..." Skulker moaned from the ground, slowly getting up, but showing no signs of attacking Ember.

"What's going on?" Danny breathed shakily, grabbing his side as his eyes darted between Ember and Skulker once more, still recovering from Skulker's attack, which he'd started the moment Danny woke up.

"I..." Ember started, looking down at Danny before letting the breath in her chest deflate. "I don't know. We're stuck in a different dimension, I think."

"You think? I thought it was clear," Skulker was now back in his feet, eyeing Danny uneasily. "And it's all the halfa's fault."

"Halfa. What's that? What is this place, and..." Danny looked down at his glowing hands, squeezing them shut before looking up at Ember. "...what _am_ I?"

"I don't know anymore. You were a halfa — half human, half ghost. But now? I don't know, Danny. I'm sorry..." Ember trailed off apologetically, her eyes staying locked on Danny's. The teen nodded slowly, looking back down at his hands and closing his eyes tightly.

"Why don't I remember anything? I just know my name is Danny, and...and there's someone else..." Danny said slowly, a pair of purple eyes lighting up in his mind before disappearing, as if a hand wiped away the partial memory.

"Your sister?" Ember asked slowly, bringing Danny's attention back to her.

"His sister? Ha!" Skulker picked up a small red rock, tossing it into the lavender tinted distance leisurely. "When I showed up here, there were only two people I could remember - my momma and my papa. Why on earth would he remember his sister?"

"I don't know, because his parents were—" Ember began angrily before turning her attention slowly back to Danny, swallowing the rest of her sentence with a gulp.

"They were _what_?" Danny asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to remember anything about his parents, his mind failing him.

"It's not important right now. What _is_ important is that we get out of here," Ember explained, motioning to the maroon and lavender atmosphere around them.

"And where exactly is _here_?" Danny asked lightly.

"You tell us, twerp," Skulker reared up, quickly earning a glare from Ember, which caused him to slump down once again.

"Why would I know? I don't know anything, apparently," Danny groaned, sitting down on a nearby red rock and weaving his fingers through his glowing white hair.

"Hey, buddy, you're fine," Ember sat next to him, throwing an arm around him before turning angrily back to Skulker. "What's your damage? Don't you remember waking up like this?! Have a little compassion, will you..."

"Do I remember? Of course I do! And this is nothing like that," Skulker got up, sending one more glare to Danny before pacing in front of the two ghosts. "Why, I was a revered hunter! I knew _exactly_ what I was meant to be. This one's _weak_," Skulker spat the word in Danny's direction.

Danny let a small whimper escape from his lips without his consent, shaking his head quickly and bringing his palms over his eyes as he leaned into himself, shaking steadily under Ember's half embrace. "I _am_ weak…"

"You're not! Skulker's just an asshole, that's all," Ember assured him slowly, carefully keeping any anger out of her voice in the moment.

"I…" Danny trailed off, taking a deep breath and shaking his head, his hands still over his eyes.

"Oh, look, Amity Park's savior is crying! Pathetic," Skulker scoffed.

At the words _Amity Park_, Danny stiffened up, images of a world painted with bright blue skies and a yellow sun running through his head. Bringing his face up slowly, he found himself staring at Skulker with an intensity he could almost remember having a long time ago.

"What did you say?" Danny asked slowly, completely still now. Immediately, Skulker's mockingly confident demeanor diminished, a small look of fear painting his metallic features.

"I…I—"

Before Skulker could finish, Danny was on his feet, grabbing the larger ghost by the front of his armor and lifting the two of them off the ground. "Don't talk about Amity! Don't even say those words! You're not going to hurt them! I won't let you!"

"H- hurt who?" Skulker asked in a small voice.

"Sam! Tucker! Jazz! You're going to leave them alone because I said so," Danny seethed before he could stop to think, the words rolling off of his tongue as he watched Skulker's face twist into a look of confusion.

"Three…you get to remember three…" he said slowly, a look of envy painting his features.

"I don't…" Danny swallowed harshly, dropping Skulker as a series of painful images lunged into his mind. There was a girl a little older than him, her piercing blue eyes clashing against her fiery red, almost orange hair. Then, without warning, the image of a boy erupted against his eyelids, his dark skin complimenting his blindingly white, confident smile. Then, violently, a third image leaped at him. It was a girl, but this one wasn't a still image like the other two. She was smiling at him, saying something he couldn't hear. She bit her lip slowly, her purple eyes smiling at him before she let out a laugh, the sound bouncing from one side of his head to the other, knocking him to the ground as he grabbed his ears in pain.

"Danny! Woah, what's going on?!" Ember called out, interrupting the grotesquely beautiful sound and bringing Danny back to his senses in the matter of a second, leaving him a shuttering mess on the ground.

"_Sam_…" Danny breathed her name carefully, as if he was afraid it would break if he said it too loud. Closing his eyes, Danny found his arms wrapping around his legs, bringing his knees to his chest and waiting for Sam's image to reappear in his mind. To his dismay, it didn't, leaving him with only a broken glass shard wedged in his heart.

"Danny?" Ember's voice was soft now, hovering over his shoulder as Danny found himself turning away from her, shaking his head slowly.

"I'm…fine…" he said the words meticulously.

"You're not," Skulker said quietly — quieter than Danny had heard him speak.

"Don't talk to me," Danny clenched his eyes closed even tighter, hugging his knees closer to himself as he let out a few shallow breaths.

"Danny, it's ok…" Ember touched his shoulder lightly. As much as Danny wanted to lean in to her touch, he found himself recoiling out of instinct instead, eyes flying open and meeting her gaze as he let go of his knees, his legs straightening out once again.

"Did you know me? Did you both…" Danny asked slowly, his eyes darting between Skulker and Ember as they began to water.

"Well, kind of…" Ember breathed the words out gently, kneeling down next to him now. "It was…_complicated_…"

"Complicated?" Danny breathed in response.

"Complicated," Skulker asserted from next to Danny, still standing up.

Before Danny could say anything else, he stiffened up, the world around him swaying slowly like a boat on uneasy waters. "What— what's that?" he asked, turning over and onto his knees, ready to strike.

"It's this place," Ember explained, gesturing to the empty landscape around her. "It's that thing…that _parasite_…"

"Parasite?" Danny asked, his head spinning at the way Ember said the word. Something about all of this felt familiar…too familiar for his fragile mind to comprehend at the moment.

"Ha! That's right, he doesn't even remember!" Skulker let out a hearty laugh, the sound echoing around the three ghosts before fading away. "The thing that probably—"

"Skulker, not yet," Ember warned, shooting the ghostly hunter a pointed look.

"Not yet?" Danny asked, a sour taste moving through his mouth as he looked between Ember and Skulker uneasily. "What is that supposed to mean?

"What, don't want your little charity case to flip out? Don't want him to know how he died?" Skulker scoffed at Ember, ignoring Danny.

"He's not a charity case, and it's too soon. You know that," Ember urged Skulker.

"Too soon? What do you think he'll do, huh? Destroy us? Rip us apart molecule by molecule?" Skulker mocked, waving his hands in the air. Something about that phrase shook Danny to his core, his entire form tensing up.

"Skulker! Shut up! You've seen what he can do, it's not a good idea to—" Ember began.

"To what? Remind him of who he was? Let him know what he did to us? I think it's absolutely the time," Skulker retorted slyly, shooting Danny a mocking gaze as he continued to look between the two arguing ghosts.

"What I…what does that…" Danny trailed off, looking expectantly at Ember, who continued to stare at Skulker with a steely look in her eyes.

"Knock it off! He could still be tied to it!" Ember said, fear tainting her voice. With a start, Danny realized it was directed towards him — she was afraid of him.

"Good! Maybe we could get out of here, then!" Skulker threw his hands in the air, looking around the desert-like atmosphere, as if challenging it. "Hello! We've got your little host here! Don't you want him back? How about a trade? You let us go and you get your little puppet!"

Danny's head began to spin with that sentence, the world around him shifting slowly, like a child's soft sleeping breath as it woke up.

"Skulker! Stop it, you little shit!" Ember yelled at him, looking around with a worried expression as reality seemed to bend around the three of them, the lilac sky dipping into the maroon ground on the horizon.

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Skulker scoffed at Ember once more before looking greedily at the sky as it turned into a perfect circle, encompassed now by a blackness — an inverted eye.

"Not like this," Ember said shakily, looking back at Danny and then at Skulker again.

"Ah, you've found him," a slimy, electric voice shook through the ground, sending a shiver up Danny's spine as he watched the eye in the horizon blink, the lavender of the sky now replaced by pure blackness except for the white circle in the middle of it all. It looked directly at Danny, smiling almost. "Welcome to your personal hell, Daniel."

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_The angst continues! I'm so super excited to take this somewhere new, and I hope y'all are all excited too!!_**

**_So, from here on out I've got about two or three big developments, but definitely more than two or three chapters. I'm still writing it, so who knows if I stumble on a new plot point along the way, but we'll see._**

**_Thank you so so much to everyone who reviews. I read every single one and they all keep me going!_**

**_Also, a special thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and — of course — reviews this story. It all means the world to me._**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

"Jasmine, is there anything we're missing here? Is there anything you're not telling us?!" Maddie asked her daughter, her voice raising with each word.

"I— No, of course not! I just…" Jazz trailed off, tears welling in her eyes as she looked between her worried parents.

"You what?!" Jack yelled at her, urging the tears in the teen's eyes to fall.

"I don't know!" Jazz yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. "I don't know. I'm sorry, ok? I'm so so sorry and there's nothing I can do and I just— I'm sorry."

Before either of her parents could respond, Tucker walked into the room, immediately making eye contact with Jazz. "Sam's not responding — we can't find her. I don't know what to do, and Vlad is—"

"Where are they!" Vlad's voice boomed from behind Tucker, eliciting a wince from the teenager.

"He's not taking things too well. The Speeder's completely off the grid. It's like she just…disappeared," Tucker explained, beginning to hyperventilate a bit. Jazz walked towards him out of instinct, wrapping him in a tight, quick hug.

"We'll find them. Go calm Vlad down, I'll be there in a second," Jazz explained, pulling away from him and grabbing him by his shoulders, her arms now stretched out in front of her.

"I…ok, I can do that—" Tucker began again.

"I can't find them!" Vlad's voice made both of them jump.

"Just hurry. Please," Tucker pleaded before turning around and leaving the Fentons alone in Danny's examination room once more.

Jazz turned back to her parents, her small burst of confidence disintegrating under her mother's critical stare. "What is that about?" the mother asked in a hushed tone.

"What? Tucker?" Jazz feigned naivety, shaking her head quickly.

"Yes, Tucker. I'm not an idiot, Jasmine. Are you two really getting involved…now of all times?" Maddie's tone grew harsher and colder with each word, staring at her daughter in disbelief by the end.

"Mom! That's not it at all!" Jazz said, her hands flying up in the air as she turned around, trying her best to hide the tears that had started streaming down her face.

"Then what is it? What's going on? What else are you hiding?!" Maddie's voice now boomed against the harsh lab, the sound echoing heavily.

"I'm not hiding anything, mom!" Jazz said, her back still to her parents as she brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth as she tried not to cry out loud.

"Yes you are!" Maddie called out once more.

"Mom—" Jazz stifled a sob, shaking her head rapidly.

"Goddamnit Jazz, look at your mother when she speaks to you!" Jack said, grabbing Jazz by her right wrist and effectively spinning her around to look at them. In that moment, Jazz felt something break within her, the floodgates demolished by a hearty sob leaking from her lips.

"Oh, stop crying and just answer me! What are you hiding!" Maddie yelled, her face red with anger.

"I'm gay!" Jazz yelled at the top of her lungs, wrapping her arms around herself as she felt her entire figure shiver. She looked down at the ground, unable to meet her parents eyes as she felt a pang of panic erupt in her stomach, spurring on a numb tingling that built itself up through her veins. With a deep, all too heavy sigh, she slid down on her haunches, kneeling on the ground as she gripped her arms even tighter in a hug.

"Jazz—" Maddie's voice was harsh still, eliciting a whimper from Jazz's numb, shaking lips, her head spinning as she closed her eyes tightly, feeling her mascara stained tears collecting just under her chin.

"Don't. Please. This isn't…" Jazz ran out of breath part way through, a series of strangled gasps following as she attempted without any success to stop herself from hyperventilating. "This is about Danny, not me," she finally choked the words out, her world spinning as she let a shaking sob loose once more.

"Jazzy..." Jack's voice came into her world, but Jazz simply shook her head and bit her lip in response, not even bothering to so much as look up at him.

After a brief moment of stillness, the squeaking of the door's hinges played in Jazz's ears, causing her to open her eyes slowly. Immediately, her gaze fell on Tucker, who was peaking his head in and looking down at Jazz, a look of worry painting his features.

"I…uh, Vlad wants to talk to you and I…uh…" Tucker tried to get his point across, though his attention was continuously sucked towards Jazz's shaking figure.

"Yeah. Cool. Let's go," Jazz stood up, hastily wiping the tears from her face and pushing past Tucker, who didn't even wait for the elder Fentons before he followed her.

"What's wrong? What did they say? What's going on?" Tucker asked in a hushed tone as Jazz continued to wipe away her smudged mascara.

"It's not important right now. Let's talk to Vlad," Jazz said shortly, opening the door to Vlad's main lab and walking in without another words from Tucker.

* * *

Sam let her eyes open slowly, taking a moment to register what was going on around her. She was laying on the cold, hard ground, her neck aching slightly from the tension. Her ears were ringing steadily, though it was subsiding by the second. The sky above her was a soft lavender, and she could taste the faint scent of sulfur in the back of her throat. She cleared it, propping herself up on her elbows slowly before bringing a hand to her pounding head.

"Ow…" she groaned lightly, blinking a few times against the glare of the bright red sun shining down in front of her.

"You're awake," the eerily recognizable voice of the monster spoke in her ears, immediately smothering the ringing sound. Sam looked around her quickly, finding that it was standing directly behind her. With a light gasp, she found herself studying its appearance.

It had pitch black hair now, painted on like a cartoon character's. When it smiled at her, it had all of Danny's bright white teeth, though they were arranged in the wrong order, both canines in the place its two front teeth should have been. Its skin was a patchwork of flesh, sown together by deep red energy that fizzled against the atmosphere around it. It was wearing one of Danny's typical outfits — a band tee and a pair of blue jeans, a jarring detail against the otherwise totally surreal nature of the thing. The creepiest part though, by far, was its eyes. Two black holes, they bore into Sam's soul, and if she focused hard enough, she could see images of Danny before he was sick, his hearty smile tearing out of the inky darkness. As soon as Sam blinked, however, the image was gone, replaced by a sickly red glare instead.

"You're…" Sam trailed off, not entirely sure how to respond.

"I'm magnificent, aren't I?" it asked, spreading its arms out expectantly, the chillingly still mouth locked in the same smile she'd seen in her dreams.

Sam sucked in a breath, biting her tongue to keep herself from screaming. "Yeah…" she settled for a one word answer, afraid that if she said anything else she might tip it off.

"What do you like best?" it continued on, its voice pounding against Sam's ears. It circled her as it spoke, making Sam twirl around hastily to keep up. "The outfit? I took that from Daniel. The teeth? I found a way to optimize your species' biology. I quite like the teeth a lot. Maybe you like the skin — again, I give Daniel the credit for that. After I took him out of his world, I was finally able to use all that I needed. But my favorite part," it paused at that, crouching down next to Sam and grabbing her under her chin, forcing her face close to its. It took all of Sam's willpower not to flinch away. "Well, I quite like my eyes. Don't you?"

Again, Sam found herself staring into its eyes, watching the swirling, inky blackness circle into another image. This time, it was Sam, a smile on her face as she laughed. Her image bit her lip, shaking her head and laughing once more, no doubt at something Danny had said. Slowly, the image faded, leaving Sam's head spinning as the thing let go of her chin, leaving Sam to slump back against the ground, deep breaths rattling her chest as her mind spun out of control against her will.

"What was that…" she trailed off, unable to think straight as the thing sat cross legged in front of her, its mouth still stuck in a too-wide smile.

"That's what I took from you. Your humanity, Samantha. Well, not all of it, but just a little. It's stunning. Really, you're just…" it sucked in a painful sounding breath, a bit of electricity popping at its chest and causing a small dark circle to form in the center of Danny's shirt. "You're amazing."

"I…" Sam blinked a few times, shaking herself out of its trance with the shake of her head before looking down at her hands. "You did what?"

"Oh, please! Don't be mad at me!" it reached out and grabbed Sam's shoulders, forcing her gaze back to its own. "Your soul is just so delicious," a black tongue sprang from its mouth, licking its lips, "I just had to have a taste. That's all."

Sam felt sick to her stomach at that, stifling the urge to vomit and instead painting a smile on her face. "Oh! I…don't know what to say…I'm flattered?"

The thing perked up, allowing Sam's nerves to cool down just a bit as it rubbed her shoulders in an almost comforting manner. With a start, she realized something — it was rubbing her shoulders. There was no armor between its cold, sticky skin and her shirt, causing the smile to fall from her face as she looked around out of instinct.

"Are you looking for your armor?" it asked, eliciting a small, fearful nod from Sam. "Oh! Don't worry about that — I destroyed it." Sam's blood ran cold at that, but it didn't seem to notice as it removed its hands from her gesturing around itself. "I understand the caution — you didn't know what kind of world you were walking in to! But not to worry, I've created a quite hospitable atmosphere for your species. You could live here forever, no protection needed."

"Oh," Sam's voice came out quieter and shakier than she'd meant for it to, causing her to clear her throat, looking around at the desolate world instead of at the thing. "Oh! Good! I'm…" she gulped, "…glad."

"Oh!" it repeated Sam's voice to her, as if replaying a tape recorder, before clearing its throat, another electrical popping sound coming from its chest as Sam's gaze continued to wander the landscape, finding nothing to look at but deep red desert and scattered boulders.

"So this is it, then?" Sam asked, still not meeting its gaze.

"Well, I was hoping we'd create our world together," it explained. "I even got you a gift to start off the festivities. Would you like to see him?"

Sam's attention snapped back to the thing, her heart stopping for a moment as her blood ran cold. "Him?"

"Yes! A welcome present. I'm afraid we can't devour him yet — I've yet to torture him, which must come first, of course," it looked at her expectantly.

"Of course," Sam breathed the words out, her lips shaking as she tried not to scream.

"But we can have our fun with him, first. It'll be fun! Fun fun fun!" it said merrily, head bobbing back and forth as a bit of electricity sparkled around its head.

"Who is he?" Sam asked, not sure if she was ready for the answer she knew was inevitably coming.

"Oh!" Sam's voice played back before promptly switching back to its voice. "I thought I made that clear. He who once was my captor, the one you loved before you became my queen."

As it spoke, Sam's mouth took on a sour taste, her eyes misting over against her will as a sickening wave of realization washed over her. "Who is it?" she asked anyways, already knowing the answer.

"Why don't I show you," it stood up now, raising its hands by its sides as the ground to Sam's left opened up, a deep purple metal cage erupting from the ground. As it rose from the deep red rock, Sam felt her stomach twist as she bit back a sob. Within the cage was none other than Danny in his ghost form, slumped against the ground in an unconscious state. When the cage came to a sudden halt, he groaned painfully, and Sam could feel the dagger wedged in her heart twist.

"Danny," Sam breathed his name softly, staring at his limp form before turning back to the thing in front of her.

"That's right! It's Daniel! Now, let the torment begin."

* * *

_**Hey all! First and foremost, I am so so sorry for being super late with this chapter. I had a lot going on, but things have started ending all at once, which is honestly a relief. For the next few weeks (at the very least the next few uploads) I can only promise updates every week, which I hope is ok. I'll bring it back up to twice a week as soon as possible, but hold tight until then!**_

_**Anyways, what do you all think? I'm really starting to up the drama and angst, so stay tuned for some more! I've got a few more ideas for upcoming chapters, which I'm really looking forward to. Thank you for everyone who reviews and tells me what you think - those comments are honestly my favorite to read!**_

_**Thank you so much to everyone who favorites, follows, and of course reviews, it honestly means the world to me.**_

_**Until next time, my dudes,**_

_**~Ash**_


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Vlad paced his lab as he attempted to collect his thoughts, mind racing with possibilities.

"You wanted to talk to us?" Jazz asked in a huff, arms crossed in front of her as she planted herself next to one of his lab tables, leaning against it for support.

"Jazz, honey—" Jack said quickly as he followed Tucker into the room, Maddie hot on his trail.

"Vlad's talking to us," Jazz said hastily, refusing to meet his gaze. Vlad stopped in his tracks, studying the Fentons as Maddie crossed to her daughter, who immediately huffed and moved to another lab table, not even meeting her eyes.

"Sweetie, I didn't mean to—" Maddie began.

"Ok, let's talk about this later, maybe," Tucker interjected, stepping between Maddie and Jazz before the mother could get any closer to her daughter.

"Tucker, you don't understand, I just need to—" Maddie began, pleading.

"I heard enough earlier, Mrs. Fenton. I think we should focus on Vlad and try to find Sam and Danny," Tucker explained, turning his attention back to Vlad pleadingly.

"I—" Maddie began again.

"Tucker is right," Vlad decided to speak, his attention lingering on Jazz for a moment as she shot him an appreciative glance. Collecting himself, he looked back to Maddie. "We have to act quickly. They both may very well be in danger."

Maddie gaped at him, a look of anger washing over her features before Jack stepped in, placing a hand on her shoulder and meeting Vlad's eyes. "Ok. You're right, Vladdie. What do we have to do?"

Vlad sighed, shaking his head at the fact that, for once, he was siding with Jack over Maddie. "I don't know," he played off the sigh as confusion, allowing his brows to furrow before looking back to Tucker. "You mentioned Danny suddenly had the ability to…"

"To portal people, yeah," Tucker nodded, crossing his arms in front of him as he spoke.

"Is there any way this thing may have a similar ability? Somehow, it may be able to portal both Sam and Danny into its vortex?" Vlad asked the teen, watching as his brows furrowed in thought.

"Yeah, I guess so…but what would that mean?" Tucker asked back, shaking his head slowly.

"That would mean..." Jack jumped in, taking a few steps closer to the two and looking between him as his words grew faster and faster in excitement. "It would mean we have a place to start looking. The vortex! Vlad, you're a genius!"

Vlad nodded slowly, turning his gaze to Maddie, who's attention was still fixed on Jazz. "Maddie?" Vlad asked carefully, causing her attention to snap up to him.

"Hmm?" she asked slowly, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Oh, yes. Yes, that might just work. We'll need another way into the Ghost Zone if we're to find them."

"We have Vlad's Speeder," Tucker jumped in. "It's not nearly as good as the Fentons'—"

"I wouldn't say that," Vlad interjected, unnoticed by Tucker.

"—but it might just do the job," Tucker finished explaining, unfazed by Vlad's interruption.

"Then we fix it up, give it as much power as possible, and go save Sam and Danny," Jack said, pounding his fist on a nearby lab table and causing it to shudder, one of the legs wobbling as the entire table tumbled over. "Oh...uh, sorry..."

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath in and letting it it slowly. "It's fine. Let's just get to work, and quickly, before it's too late."

* * *

Danny opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurred with smudges of dark maroon and lilac.

"…now, let the torment begin!" the words pin-balled between Danny's ears, causing a small groan to fall from his lips. He turned over, the side of his face hitting cold metal.

"You have D- Danny," a soft voice came from next to him, and immediately, Danny's eyes snapped wide open. He recognized that voice. With a sudden turn, he found himself looking right at her — Sam. Her deep purple eyes were staring right into his, worry painting her features. Her short, bob-length black hair fell in tangles at the sides of her face, and when he finally made eye contact with her, her lips quivered lightly.

"…Sam?" Danny breathed the word out lightly — almost inaudibly, but Sam must have heard him because when he said her name, she took a small lunge forward.

"Ah! He remembers you. That just makes this all the more delicious, don't you think, my queen?" the cold, metallic voice echoed between Danny's ears again, causing him to reach up to cover them once more.

"I…yeah, delicious or whatever," Sam grumbled, eyes still locked on Danny as he closed his eyes tightly, the pressure from the voice building inside his skull.

"Samantha? Darling, you mustn't get worked up over him. He probably hardly even remembers you, the state he's in," its voice grew louder within Danny's ears, and he could feel them popping painfully, letting a small groan escape from his lips.

"The state he's in?" Sam's voice grounded Danny, the pressure in his skull subsiding and allowing him to open his eyes slowly, staring at her once more.

"Oh, yes. All new ghosts have a memory or two leftover, but they fade after time. He probably only remembers your face, or your name — nothing more," the voice seemed to speak softer now that it was addressing Sam in a calming manner, allowing Danny to take a few deep breaths, relaxing slightly.

"New ghosts…are you saying that he's…" Sam started, her attention turning back behind her before she snapped her gaze back to Danny, brows furrowed and mouth slightly agape.

"Dead?" it asked, voice still soft enough to allow Danny to turn onto his knees, getting up unsteadily all while keeping his attention locked on Sam.

"Yeah…is he…dead?" Sam turned back after shooting Danny an apologetic glance.

"Who knows! All I know is that I have his human body all right here," the voice was still speaking to Sam, giving Danny enough of a break to stumble to his feet, leaning heavily on the bars of the cage he was locked in. He couldn't see past Sam's figure, but she was talking to whatever was speaking into his head.

"…so you killed him?" Sam's voice shook as she spoke, and Danny felt a pang in his chest.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I have no clue! But he'll certainly be dead — completely destroyed, more like — when I'm done with him," it spoke again, sending a chill up Danny's spine. "Now, step aside so I can see my old captor."

Sam took a step towards whatever was speaking to her, shaking her head. "Wait a minute, I—"

"Oh, Samantha. You're still trying to protect him. I can tell," its voice grew louder in Danny's ears, causing his hands to grab the sides of his head once more.

"No, I just—" Sam started.

"Shh, my darling, not to worry. When I'm done with him — and you — you won't care about him at all. There won't even be anything left for you to care about. Now step aside, my love," its voice was suddenly very serious, speaking slowly.

"But—" Sam began again.

"Forgive me," it said, grabbing Sam by the arm and tossing her aside. Immediately, Danny felt his heart twist in his chest, trying to rush towards her but running into the deep purple metal bars once more.

"Sam!" Danny called out, watching as her form fell limp on the ground a few yards away from him. When she didn't respond, Danny found himself turning back to whatever she had been talking to, immediately feeling his entire body stiffen.

It was just standing there, looking into Danny's eyes with its pitch black ones. It had a patchwork of skin stretched across its face and body, sewn together with with maroon sparks. When it smiled, its teeth were out of order. It was wearing a sickeningly familiar outfit that clashed with everything else in the world around them. Its mouth was frozen in a painful looking grin, though Danny could see the pure rage sparkling in its dead, black eyes.

"You're…" Danny trailed off, though he didn't get a chance to finish before it surged forward, not moving its feet but instead levitating towards him and grabbing the teenager by the neck.

"You're going to pay, for everything. I don't care if you don't remember — you're the only thing standing between my Samantha and me, and for that, you're going to die."

Danny struggled against the thing, though he didn't have a hard time breathing. Actually, he found that he could hold his breath as long as he needed to without any pain. The only thing that hurt was the thing's steely grip on his skin. "She's not yours," Danny spat, suddenly finding strength in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong," it said, its voice rattling within Danny's head. "She came here of her own free will. That's all I need to know that she loves me, just as I love her. And now, when I finally destroy you, she'll be mine. All mine."

Danny felt reality warp around him as the thing stared deeply into his eyes. Danny felt himself getting lost in the black pools, blinking unsteadily and finding himself surrounded by total blackness.

"Wh- what? What's going on?!" Danny called out, his voice echoing around him.

"Oh, Daniel," the voice was all around him now, bouncing from one side of the void to the other. "You're living your worst nightmare."

"My worst..." Danny felt his breath hitch in his throat, as if all the air was sucked out of it. This time, however, the lack of oxygen struck him painfully across the face, sending him stumbling back. The moment he lost his footing, he felt himself fall backwards, the feeling of falling overtaking his entire body as he plummeted into nothingness.

"Oh Daniel!" it spoke again as Danny's hands flew to his throat, still gasping for breath. "What fun we'll have!"

And with that, it dropped him into a field — a lush field with red grass and lilac skies. He thudded against the ground with a groan, his airways suddenly open once more as he gasped in the sulfur filled air.

"What all do you remember, I wonder?" its voice spoke directly into his head now, and Danny groaned at the unpleasant pressure against his skull. "Do you know your parents? What they wanted to do to you?"

The world around him shifted to reveal two figures — a man and a woman. The man, a hulking figure dressed in an orange jumpsuit, had goggles on as he paced towards Danny, a spinning saw at the ready. The woman was quite smaller, though she was strong, her blue jumpsuit clinging to her as she paced towards him with a glowing gun, goggles reflecting nothing. Danny skittered back, his mind reeling as he tried to place the all too familiar image.

"Danny," they both spoke in unison as they paced towards him, their voice echoing around him. "We love you."

"Who...what's going on?!" Danny cried out, still stuck on the ground. As he tried to bring himself up to his feet, he found the grass wrapping around him, stopping him from moving away.

"We'll rip him molecule from molecule, isn't that right Maddie?" the man spoke in a monotone tone, his eyes still trained on Danny.

"But Jack," the woman — Maddie — spoke, still only looking at Danny. "How will we dissect him, then?"

Danny felt a painful pang of recognition deep in his chest, tears welling in his eyes as his lips quivered. "M- mom? Dad?"

"Sweetheart, we love you," the duo spoke in unison once more before disappearing into a puff of smoke, the grass tightening around Danny and pulling him flush against the hard, stony red ground. It pulled his head to his left, forcing him to look at three more figures, all staring at Danny with blank, dead eyes.

"You promised you'd never let us down, Danny," one of the two girls — Sam, he recognized — spoke, her features maturing rapidly as she withered into nothing, the harsh wind blowing her ashes away as Danny cried out.

"Little brother?" the second girl spoke now, drawing Danny's attention to her. He hardly caught a glimpse of her red hair before it fell out in clumps, floating away into the wind. He was forced to watch as her entire form disintegrating to ash, billowing away in a dark cloud.

"Jazz?!" he called out, the name coming to him the moment she was gone, hitting him in the chest with a thud.

"Dude, you messed up," the third figure spoke, his skin greying by the moment as he shook his head, glaring at Danny. "Big time," as he said those final words, he spat his teeth out before dissolving into sludge and sinking into the earth.

"Tucker!" Danny called, but it was too late, as he was already gone.

"Nobody's coming to help you, Daniel," its voice pushed against the inside of Danny's skull once more, forcing a piercing scream from his lips.

"Let me go! Please! Let me go, I need to— I need to help them! Please!" Danny called out, struggling against the tall grass as is hissed in contentment, pulling him deeper into the hard ground.

"You're going to stay here forever, living your worst nightmare. Over," the grass pulled him deeper with that, "and over," deeper again, "and over again." And with that, the thing pulled him completely underground, darkness washing over Danny once more.

* * *

_**Hey all! What do you think?**_

_**Thank you all first off for the reviews - I read them all and love getting them!**_

_**As far as the story goes, what do you all think? Is it what you expected? What do you think is going on? Let me know in a review what you all are thinking!**_

_**I'm going to keep posting a new chapter every week for a little while, but don't be surprised if I suddenly start posting more at some point in the near future.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews! It all means the world to me.**_

_**Until next time, my dudes.**_

_**~Ash**_


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

Sam pried her eyes open slowly, looking around her at the harsh, dark red landscape. As the ringing in her ears subsided, she propped herself up on her elbows, looking around herself in confusion.

"What...? Where am I—" Sam cut herself off as soon as the memory of where she was cane flooding back, washing over her like a bucket of cold water.

"Soon, my love, there will be a day when you wake up always knowing where you are," a cold, metallic voice spoke between her ears, causing Sam to look around, finding nothing but red rock. "You're safe, here with me."

"Where's Danny?" Sam called out before she could stop to think about the implications of her words.

"Oh," the metallic voice clawed against itself, like nails on a chalkboard. "Daniel. Don't worry, he'll be gone soon."

"Gone?" Sam gasped the word, her eyes watering on instinct.

"Yes. Gone. Obliterated. Soon enough, he won't even so much as live in your memory," the thing explained coldly — methodically.

Sam's heart raced as she closed her eyes tightly, a few tears falling down her cheeks as she brushed them away hastily.

"Not to worry, darling!" the voice must have been able to see her, attempting to comfort her with its tone. "Will it help to see him once more? A final goodbye before I erase him from your mind?"

Sam stopped crying the moment it said that, opening her eyes carefully and looking around her. "See him?"

"Well, he's a bit out of it, so you might not be able to talk to him much, but you could see him. Is that what you want?"

Sam's mind raced with possibilities, though she found herself clinging to one in particular as she nodded slowly. In an instant, the world around her swirled, as if opening up and dropping her in a different location, the landscape the only constant. Directly in front of her, a large cage with dark purple bars sat, a small, haunched over figure lingering inside it. Sam got up, running over to the cage and wrapping her fingers against one of the bars. "Danny!" she called out, studying the figure trapped within the metal cage. Danny's figure twitched, still slumped over and facing away from her. "D- Danny?"

"He can't hear you," the thing's voice shook inside her head once more, causing Sam to pull back a bit in shock.

"What are you doing to him?" Sam asked, any facade if not caring about Danny gone at this point.

"I'm making him pay. He put me through hell, Samantha, and he deserves to go through the same."

Sam brought herself closer to the cage again, closing her eyes tight and taking a few deep breaths. "Danny, it's me. You have to hear me, I just need you to listen. Everything's going to be ok, I promise. Just...just stay with me."

"I can hear you, Samantha," its voice taunted here from inside her own head, eliciting a sharp gasp from Sam's lips. She opened her eyes, taking one look back at Danny before standing up and looking around at nothing.

"I'll do whatever you want. I will. I'll be your queen — I'll rule with you — but only on one condition," Sam explained with a shaking voice.

"My dear, I can make you whatever I need to to get you to listen. You have no leverage," it spoke again, sending a chill down Sam's spine.

"I know you can, but imagine how wonderful it would be if I didn't fight you. If I just listened. So much less energy wasted, so much more time to rule like you want us to. That's what you want, isn't it?" Sam proposed to the air around her, listening as the entire landscape seemed to hold its breath.

"Yes, I want that, my love," the thing appeared in front of Sam in a pop, causing her to jump back just a bit before steadying her rapid breathing.

"Well, I'll do all that. I'll give myself over willingly, but you need to let Danny go," Sam explained, staring into the black holes the thing had turned into eyes. She watched as contemplation ran over its features.

"You won't know if I'm telling the truth," it stated smugly, taking a step towards her.

"We'll rule together. I'll be able to tell if he's still here, or if you've killed him," Sam responded, mind racing. This might actually work.

"But this is all I want, all I need to..." it trailed off, staring at Sam intently as it's mouth did a one hundred eighty degree turn into a frown. "I need my revenge, my queen."

"More than you need me?" Sam asked softly, feigning a gentle nature with her captor.

Its mouth turned back at that, giving a small nod as it grabbed Sam's hand. Immediately, she felt a surge of dark electricity flow through her, crying out at the sensation.

"Shh, my love, hold on to me. I'm giving you power, just relax and cooperate. Soon enough, I will let Daniel go, and it'll just be you and I," it cooed, wrapping its arms around Sam's waist as the electricity spread throughout her body, causing her to spasm lightly.

"Danny! Let him... let him go first..." Sam tried to speak, her mouth filling with cotton at each word. It nodded in front of her, and with a sickening pop, Sam knew the deed was done. Danny has been released from his prison, back out into the Ghost Zone.

"There there, Samantha. Just relax. You're home now," it purred sadistically, causing Sam's head to loll onto its shoulder, her cheek flooding with electricity upon touching its shoulder.

"I'm..." Sam began, trailing off as her vision morphed into a swirling maroon and purple mess.

"You're here, safe with me in our new kingdom," it said, pulling Sam tighter against itself as her consciousness faded away. "You're home."

* * *

Jazz sat in the back seat of Vlad's Speeder, arms wrapped tightly around her shivering form. Vlad was driving, and Jack had insisted on sitting in the passenger seat, Maddie crouched in between them as they rocketed through the Ghost Zone. That left Jazz in the back seat with Tucker next to her, his nervous glance pin-balling from Jazz to her parents to the Ghost Zone around them, back to Jazz.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tucker finally spoke up, grabbing Jazz's attention as she turned slowly towards him.

"No, not really," Jazz sighed, biting her lip to keep it from shaking.

"Oh. Ok…" Tucker trailed off, attention turning towards the adults sitting up front before he glanced back at Jazz. "But like if you did want to talk about it, I'm always here for you."

Jazz nodded at him, allowing a small smile to fall onto her lips as she exhaled gently. "Yeah, alright. I'll let you know, just…" Jazz's attention turned to the adults up front, their hushed whispers all too concerning. "…just not until we get everything figured out."

"Yeah. Yeah, ok, I guess. But it just sucks, I guess," Tucker started, turning his attention to the swirling sky of the Ghost Zone. Jazz found herself focusing on him now, leaving the adults in her peripheral.

"What sucks?" she questioned.

"I just want things to go back to normal, you know? Like, even when we had other things going on, it was all of us in it together. Now, Sam and Danny have this whole separate thing, and now they're both in trouble. Most of the time, it's all of us in trouble. It just sucks being on the outside — like I can't help or anything."

Jazz found herself laughing at that, breaking the grief-stricken tension and grabbing Tucker's attention once more. "Tucker, you literally just described why I've always fought so hard to be a part of your team, of Team Phantom!"

"Really?"

"Really!" Jazz calmed down now, shaking her head and noting that she hadn't laughed that hard in what felt like a very long time. "It's the worst feeling to be on the outside. In some weird way, it almost feels better to deal with the trauma. At least then you know you did everything you could, right?"

"Right!" Tucker agreed, turning fully to Jazz now. "I know what they're going through sucks but this waiting game is just so…"

"So stupid," Jazz retorted, shaking her head slightly as she watched Tucker's features scrunch up in agreement.

"So stupid!" Tucker laughed a bit, his face freezing when he noticed Maddie sending him a death glare. As soon as Jazz noticed that, she found herself biting her lip again, feeling it begin to shake.

"Right…" Jazz watched as her mom tried to meet her eyes, only to turn back to Tucker. "Well, now you know where I'm coming from."

"Yeah, sorry about all that. If I knew why you wanted to be a part of it all, I would've…I don't know…" Tucker sighed, "…been a little easier on you, I guess?"

"Well, thanks. That actually means a lot," Jazz smiled genuinely, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Kids, we're coming up on something, the radar just picked it up…" Maddie's voice came from up front, causing both Tucker and Jazz to turn their attention back to the front of the Speeder.

"What is it?" Tucker asked, obviously restraining himself from getting up and looking at the radar himself.

"It appears to be a strong ghost, stronger than I've seen since…" Vlad trailed off, worry painting his voice as he cleared his throat.

"Since…?" Jazz asked, a lump forming in her throat.

"It's not important. We must approach it with caution, but the ecto-signature is similar to Daniel's, so that's…" Vlad trailed off, seemingly unable to find the right word.

"That's something…" Jazz offered, unable to come up with any actual descriptors.

"Yes," Vlad chuckled at that, "_something _would be a good way to put it."

"Do we arm ourselves as we fly past it?" Jack asked, looking around instinctively for a weapon.

"The Speeder will be enough, and we can get a good scan on it before acting. The last thing we want to do is hurt Daniel," Vlad explained, pressing a few buttons on the control board as the entire Speeder slowed down.

"Are we almost to it?" Maddie asked, her voice tense.

"Yes, we should be approaching in just a moment…" Vlad clicked a few more buttons, causing the Speeder to slow to a near stop.

Vlad muttered under his breath about turning the Speeder to get a good scan, pressing away on the control board all the while. Tucker fidgeted next to Jazz as he watched, clearly unhappy to be watching instead of helping. Jazz looked out the windows, gasping as she saw exactly what they were scanning, pressing her face to the glass as she watched the pink energy from the Speeder scan it.

"Is that…Danny?" Jazz asked, looking at the dark purple cage, the figure inside it looking suspiciously like Danny in his ghost form.

"He has the same ecto-signature as him, that's for certain," Vlad muttered, looking back to Maddie and Jack. "I think it's him. That thing appears to have…ejected him."

"How can you know that?" Tucker asked, now getting up and standing behind Maddie.

"There are signatures all over him that resemble the vortex. I think…he was in it," Vlad continued to explain.

"Well, let's stop just talking and get him in here!" Jack exclaimed, drawing Vlad's attention to him.

"I'm bringing him in now, the cage will be in the holding bay in a moment…" Vlad said, continuing to type away on the control board before bringing his hands back, nodding and letting out a long sigh. "It'll take just a moment."

Jazz felt her heart speed up within her chest, her mind racing with possibilities. So Danny was just there, floating in the Ghost Zone by himself. That thing must have let him go, but why? And where was Sam? As much as Jazz loved her little brother, she'd grown to love Sam like a sister as well, and she wasn't willing to leave the younger teen without a fight.

As Jazz's mind continued to race, she found herself getting up and pacing the length of the Speeder, listening as the mechanisms worked to bring Danny into the holding bay. With one final _click_ and _thud_, the mechanisms stopped, having done its job. Jazz froze, locking eyes with Tucker as they both nodded, beginning to make their way over to the holding bay, ready to figure out what was going on.

* * *

_**Hey all! What do you think?**_

_**Right away, I have some good news — I'm upping my posting schedule! Right now, I'm going to go back to twice a week, but that might change to every other day like I started out, we'll see.**_

_**Also, how do you guys like the direction this is going in? I'm really excited for the next few chapters, especially when we get to some really personal, angst stuff. Also, there's going to be a lot of horror coming up, so be ready for that!**_

**_Thank you so so much to those who review, it means so much to me. As well, a special thanks to everyone who favorited and follows. I really appreciate all the attention this story gets, so thank you :)_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

"…Is he awake?" a voice floated above Danny's left ear, his world still engulfed in the inky darkness that thing had trapped him in. The voice was masculine, though obviously young and probably pubescent.

"Does he look awake?" another voice came from Danny's right, this one more feminine as she sighed in dismay.

"Ok, well I was just asking…" the voice from his left replied, a scowl present in his tone.

"Kids, stop it!" yet another female voice came from in front of him, this one a little older — a little more mature.

"Ok, mom, you've gotta stop calling us kids," the voice to Danny's right responded defensively.

"Jasmine, lower your voice this second," a booming, masculine voice came from behind Danny, this one fully mature and distinctly different from the voice on his left.

"Dad—" the girl to his right whined.

"You need to get it together, this isn't about you right now, young lady," the booming voice behind him spoke up once more.

"Mr. Fenton, that's real cold," the boy to Danny's left responded after a short pause, Danny's vision swirling as he tried to open his eyes.

"Tucker, this doesn't concern you," the woman in front of him stated sternly as Danny closed his eyes again, squeezing them tightly together to keep the blinding light from giving him a headache.

"This doesn't— ok, I've kept quiet as long as I could—" the boy to Danny's left started.

"That's debatable," the woman in front of Danny interrupted.

"—but this has to stop. You two need to get over yourselves and be there for your kids, especially Jazz!" the boy continued, his voice cracking a bit at the end with emotion.

"This isn't about her! This is about Danny!" the woman in front of Danny exclaimed, her voice pounding against Danny's already aching skull. He let out a small groan involuntarily, hands coming up to his face to cover his eyes.

"Danny!" the girl to his right gasped his name, her hands grabbing his arm firmly. Danny's immediate instinct was to flinch away, but something about her was so familiar and comforting. He found himself sinking into her touch, eyes opening gently as he kept them covered with his hands.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" the woman in front of him asked gently, though Danny kept his hands over his eyes to obscure his vision.

"I'm…" Danny groaned out uneasily, trailing off as he shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Dude, take your time, you're all good," the voice to his left said softly, tone much quieter now than just moments earlier.

"Uh," Danny coughed harshly, turning over and allowing himself to spit some green goo onto the ground, clearing his throat. His hands were holding him above the ground, his eyes wide open now as he focused on the bright silver ground in front of him. With a deep breath, he turned himself onto his back, carefully avoiding the small puddle next to him. As the world stopped spinning, Danny found himself looking up at the ceiling, his breath heaving as he tried to catch it.

"…Danny?" the girl to his right asked carefully. With a start, Danny realize that he recognized the voice, jumping to his feet and facing her in one swift movement. As he did so, he found himself staring at a girl a few years older than himself, her long red hair flaming against her alabaster skin. Her piercing blue eyes bore into his own as she offered him a small smile.

"You're…" Danny trailed off, his head still spinning from whatever that thing had done to him. He gulped, realization washing over him. "You're...Jazz?"

"Um, yeah, it's me, Danny," Jazz took a small step forward, but Danny found himself taking a step away from her. Unfortunately, that meant that he ran into the person behind him due to the fact that they were all in such tight quarters. Danny yelled out in shock, flying up and hitting his head against the ceiling of the small room with a sickening thud.

"Dude! Are you ok? What's going on?" the boy he'd ran into asked, and Danny turned to him, another wave of recognition rushing over him as he examined the boy just below him.

"And you're— you're Tucker!" Danny pointed before bringing his hands up to the sides of his head, gripping his hair and pulling gently in an attempt to maintain his sanity.

"I— yeah buddy, it's me," a bit of disappointment found its way into Tucker's voice, his features scrunching in confusion. "What's the matter?"

"You, you…" Danny turned back and forth between Jazz and Tucker, his hands migrating over his mouth as he continued to hyperventilate. Since he'd woken up, his breathing had been all over the place, which was a strange experience considering he had a vivid memory of when he didn't need to breathe from just earlier that day.

"Danny, sweetheart, what's the matter? Please, talk to us," the other female voice spoke, and Danny turned to her in a whirl, the air sucked immediately out of his lungs. He recognized the woman, as well as the man she'd moved to stand next to.

"You're…" Danny's eyes widened, the memory of those two debating how to torture him running through his head. He had a hard time figuring out if it was a real memory, or something that thing had projected into his mind. Either way, their faces made him feel sick. "No…no, get away from me!"

Danny flew up as high as he could, pressing himself against the ceiling. The only thing keeping him from phasing through it and leaving was Jazz and Tucker's presence. They sent one another concerned looks, hardly meeting Danny's gaze as he stared down at them.

"Daniel, I need you to look at me for a moment," a new voice — one Danny hadn't heard yet — spoke to him gently. He turned his body to face it, finding a man with striking silver and grey hair and bright blue eyes lined with thick eyeliner staring at him. His eyes glowed a harsh, familiar red for a moment before turning back to shining blue.

"I don't recognize you," Danny sighed in relief. If he saw one more recognizable person, he felt like his brain might just melt out of his head.

"That's what I thought. And Jazz and Tucker? You recognize them?" the man asked, taking a step into the room. He had some sort of energy about him that had Danny focusing only on him. It was almost as though everyone else in the room faded away for just a moment.

"Yes. I remember them, they're my…friends? I think?" Danny scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, turning his attention back to the other two teens before looking back at Vlad.

"And Maddie? Jack?" the man asked slowly, as if speaking to a wounded animal.

"Are they…" Danny's entire body shook for a moment before he looked over at the two adults in jumpsuits, the painful memories flashing in front of his face. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a few deep breaths and turning back to the other man. "I don't like it. Bad memories. I remember…"

"You don't have to finish," the man spoke, causing Danny to open his eyes and send him a relieved look. "Are they your own memories? Something else?"

"I don't know," Danny said, confusion washing over his features.

"Do you remember where you came from? Samantha — Sam, you may know her better as — do you remember what happened to her?" the man asked, brows furrowing in what looked like sympathy.

Danny closed his eyes for a moment, Sam's features flashing before him once more. He remembered her worried face as she tried to save him from that thing. With a sinking feeling, he realized that she must have been the reason he was out of that place. Gulping back tears, Danny opened his eyes once more, nodding slowly at the man.

"What happened?" the man took another step forward, his voice a bit stronger now. Something about that movement sent a chill down Danny's spine, a memory hovering over his head, just out of his reach.

"You…I know you…I knew you…" Danny said carefully, feeling his entire body tense. "How?"

"Daniel, please, now is not the time. We really must find out what happened to Samantha. We need to save her," Vlad explained, reaching his hand out to Danny as a sort of peace offering. Danny found himself relaxing for just a moment, floating down just enough to reach out and grab the man's hand.

As soon as Danny touched his hand, however, the memory hovering over his mind broke, raining down on his consciousness. A ghostly figure with pointed black hair and pale blue skin flashed through his mind, his red eyes glaring maniacally into Danny's. The memory continued as two black rings formed around the man's waist, washing over his body and revealing the man Danny had just met, or so he thought. The name 'Vlad' flooded his mind, sending a tremor over his skin as he found himself snapping out of the sudden memory.

"No!" Danny flew back, compacting himself into the corner as tightly as possible as he flew away quickly from Vlad. "You're…you're— you're not good! You…" Danny looked now between all three adults in the room, their eyes all on him. "You hurt me," his voice broke, his eyes beginning to water as he found himself hyperventilating.

"Danny, please," the woman in the teal jumpsuit pleaded taking a step towards the corner Danny had flung himself into.

"No! Stay back!" Danny pointed his hands at her, his fingertips glowing with radiant green energy. "All of you, stay back!"

Everyone in the room tensed up at that, Danny's hands still glowing with the undead energy. Danny continued to hyperventilate, his world continuing to spin as he closed his eyes and shook his head, a few tears streaming down his face as he did so.

"Danny, will you listen to us?" the younger boy's voice — Tucker — spoke out, interrupting Danny's downward spiral. He opened his eyes, still breathing heavily before looking back down at him and the girl standing next to him — Jazz.

"Y- yeah. I…I would…just you and Jazz…" Danny trailed off, his breath stabilizing a bit as he turned his attention back to the adults, who were staring at Danny with fear in their eyes. Again, the fear made Danny feel sick with himself.

"But—" one of the men — Vlad — began gently.

"I'll talk to Jazz and Tucker. Not you, Plasmius," Danny growled at Vlad, the ghostly monicker rolling off of his tongue before he could stop himself. The use of Vlad's other name stopped him in his tracks, attention shooting to the other two adults.

"Very well," Vlad said as soon as he'd recovered, motioning for the other two adults to follow him out. They both did, but not before shooting Danny a fearful, gentle glance. The door to the small room closed with a light thud, Danny's shoulders immediately letting go of most of his tension.

"Danny," Jazz spoke gently as Danny let himself slowly fall back down to the ground, his feet touching down effortlessly. "Are you ok?"

Before Danny could answer, he found himself bringing her into a tight hug, fingers lacing around her neck. "Jazz," he breathed the name gently, as if she would disappear if he spoke too hard.

"Oh, Danny," Jazz hugged back, drawing him into her warmth. They both pulled apart after a moment, Jazz looking directly into his eyes and smiling softly. "Are you ok? Do you…what do you…remember?"

Danny took an unsteady step back, looking over at Tucker and allowing his shoulders to slump forward. "I don't know…I woke up and I knew you two and…"

"…Sam?" Tucker asked with a small smile, eliciting a wistful look from the ghostly teen.

"Yeah. Sam," Danny sighed, shaking his head to bring himself back to the present. "So when I woke up with Ember and Skulker—"

"Wait, Ember and Skulker?" Tucker interjected, grabbing Danny's attention once more.

"Um…yeah? Is that bad? They're just the people I woke up with," Danny explained.

"They're…" Tucker met Jazz's eyes, the both of them sharing a look before they both turned back to Danny. "They're _ghosts_. What did they say?"

Danny squinted, shaking his head as he tried to organize his thoughts. "They said a lot…something about when they woke up..."

"After they—" Tucker began to interrupt once more.

"Shh, Tucker. Let him speak," Jazz corrected Tucker, her eyes still on Danny as he shot her an appreciative nod.

"When I woke up, they were talking about who they remembered. Skulker said I was lucky to remember three. They kept talking about…being _dead_, and…" Danny looked down at himself before looking back up at Jazz and Tucker. "They didn't say if I was or not. They were treating me like…it was weird, I don't know…"

Jazz sighed, clearing her throat and rubbing her eyes slowly. "Danny, did they mention that you…if you…"

"Died?" Danny asked. Jazz nodded, tears in her eyes as she made eye contact with her little brother.

"They didn't. They didn't seem sure," Danny explained, his breath rattling in his chest — a reminder. "I still need to breathe, though. I…don't know why. They called me a…a halfa, like that had something to do with it. I don't know, I just…"

"It's ok," Tucker said, taking a step towards his friend with a small smile on his face. "We'll figure it out, alright? But right now, we need to work with Vlad and your— with Jack and Maddie," Tucker corrected himself, an uneasy feeling settling in Danny's stomach at that.

"Why?" he asked defensively.

"Because they know how to help Sam," Jazz interjected this time, having collected herself. "I know you don't remember much, and what you do is…_scary_, but you can trust them. I promise."

"And how am I supposed to know that?" Danny asked, his voice quiet and unsure.

"Because we trust them," Tucker explained, the small smile still glued to his face.

"And you trust us, right?" Jazz asked slowly, her eyes on Danny, awaiting his answer.

"Of course I do," Danny said.

"Ok, good," Jazz sighed in relief, offering him a gentle smile. "Let me go talk to them really quick and…explain. Then I'll come back in and we'll go out there and talk to them. Sound good?" Jazz asked softly.

"I…ok. If you trust them, then I guess I do, too," Danny said, smiling at her as she nodded.

"Alright. I'll be right back then," Jazz said, turning her back on the boys and leaving the loading bay.

* * *

_**Hey all! What do you think?**_

_**I got a few reviews from the last chapter about how dark it's getting and how ya'll are wondering where Sam is, and don't worry! We'll see more of Sam in the next three chapters for sure. As well, I'm really excited (and maybe a little sad) to announce that I have a concrete plan on how to end this fic. I'm estimating about 5-6 more chapters, depending on how I do the epilogue and resolution.**_

_**There is the possibility to do a sequel with this story. I don't know how to feel about that for sure, and if I did write a sequel, it would take a little time for me to really flesh out the idea I have. If anyone is interested in seeing a sequel, please let me know! If nobody's interested, I probably won't do it, so if you want one let me know!**_

_**As always, thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews. It all means the world to me!**_

_**Until next time, my dudes,**_

_**~Ash**_


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

"What the hell is going on with my son," Maddie yelled at Vlad, her voice shrill and angry.

"I don't know, Maddie," Vlad explained slowly, still shaken up from the use of his ghost name. Daniel had remembered him, apparently. Vlad didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, it spoke to the level of his death. If the boy had really died, he would have been capped at remembering about two people; Vlad knew that much from his decades of research. On the other hand, it meant that Vlad was going to have a hard time speaking with Daniel and really figuring out what was going on.

"Vladdie, I love you but you need to tell us what's going on right now," Jack spoke with a serious tone, startling Vlad. He hadn't heard the lumbering oaf be this serious in years.

"What's going on is…_complicated_," Vlad hissed to himself, mind racing with the possibilities. Without considering the consequences, he began to pace, thinking out loud. "Daniel is…he could be dead, true, but that's unlikely. For one, ghosts don't have to breathe, so his hyperventilating doesn't fit with the typical ghostly characteristics. Plus, he remembers too much to be dead. Real ghosts have only ever remembered two. He remembers too many. Now, there is the fact that with his pre-existing…_condition_…he may be more powerful, but again, that's unlikely. Even the more powerful ghosts don't need to breathe. They usually tend to remember less, actually. So why…_what_ is going on?!"

Vlad threw his hands in the air, growling out loud in frustration before he remembered that Maddie and Jack were in the room with him. Taking a deep breath, the halfa collected himself, running a hand through his hair to ensure it was in place.

"…Vlad, how do you know so much about ghosts?" Maddie asked, her voice tense and taught.

"What?" Vlad looked up at the woman, eyebrows furrowing as he realized the implications of everything he'd just said.

"You…knew Danny's secret, didn't you?" Jack asked. Vlad's momentary silence was enough of an answer for him, sending the larger man into a fit of rage. "Of course you did! Why didn't I think about it before? Why else would the kids come to you when Danny was in trouble! You knew, and you kept it from Maddie and I — you kept it from his _parents_, Vlad. How do you sleep with yourself? You're sick," Jack spat, his voice booming and echoing throughout the soundproofed cockpit of the Speeder.

"Jack—" Vlad began.

"Save it," Jack sighed, hand moving to his eyes as he rubbed them before turning to his wife. "Right now we just…need to figure out what's wrong with our son. And we need to help Sam. Something tells me she's a big part of the reason Danny's safe."

"_Safe_?" Maddie asked her husband, her voice strained. "He might be _dead_!" with that, she turned her attention back to Vlad.

"I honestly don't think he is," Vlad explained, looking between the couple carefully.

"Oh, great! We've got Mr. _Ghost_ Masters over here telling us what's going on," Maddie threw her hands up in indignation, her voice finally breaking into a full yell. "Tell us, why don't you, what to do with our mostly dead son!"

Vlad froze at that. Maddie — the love of his life — was yelling at him. Granted, he always knew this day might come, but he still found himself unprepared. He could feel his hopes being dashed just the same as he could feel her heated glare on his skin.

"I'm sorry," Vlad said, his voice shaking as he tried to maintain his composure.

"You're sorry? Ok, prove it," Jack said, his voice still booming against the metal walls. "Help us save Sam and get Danny back to normal."

"But—" Vlad started.

"No 'but's. Just do it," Jack said, his steely gaze turning to his wife and softening just slightly. "We need his help, Maddie, we do. So for now, we need to…_work_ with him."

"I suppose," Maddie seethed, no longer yelling. "But after we fix everything, he's going to explain himself," Maddie turned her attention from Jack to Vlad at this, glaring at him intensely. "He's going to explain everything."

Before Vlad could think to answer, the door opened slightly, revealing Jazz as she entered, carefully closing the door behind her.

"How is he? What's going on?" Maddie asked her daughter, tone softening from when she had addressed Vlad.

"He's...he doesn't remember much. I don't even know if he remembers that we're related, but—" Jazz's voice cracked, and she took a moment to clear her throat. "But we need to act quickly. Sam is still in danger, and Danny will be able to help get her back here."

"Can...can we talk to him? Alone?" Jack asked slowly, his voice gentle and a bit frightened.

Silence filled the tiny room as Jazz took a moment to think, looking at the three adults staring at her. "I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea yet."

Jack's face fell as he turned to his wife, who, in contrast, was absolutely livid. "Not a good idea yet? Who do you think you are!" Maddie said, her tone raising.

"Mom—" Jazz began.

"Yes, you're right! I'm your _mother_, not the other way around," Maddie said, voice still raised. Jazz flinched back, but Maddie continued, shaking her head and letting out a small, sarcastic laugh. "Hell, you've taken it upon yourself to mother my boy for years. Well, Jasmine, you need to stop. He's our responsibility, not yours!"

"Well maybe if you didn't threaten to kill and experiment on him, he wouldn't need me so much, would he?!" Jazz yelled back, shaking as her anger overflowed.

"That's a low blow," Maddie's tone dropped, taking on a new level of intensity.

"Really? Because I think it's true and, honestly, totally fair!" Jazz yelled, biting her lip in an attempt to hold back before shaking her head and letting go. "I mean, he hardly remembers anything, and one of his main memories is that you and dad hurt him! Doesn't that tell you something?"

"Jasmine!" Jack's voice shook the room once more.

"What? It's true! And if you're going to be 'blunt' or whatever with me, might as well repay the favor, right?" Jazz said, crossing her arms in a failing attempt to keep her hands from shaking.

The room fell into a tense silence at that, Jazz taking a deep breath to try and calm herself. She looked over to Vlad, who was watching the exchange with a small smirk on his face. "Oh, what's so funny, _Plasmius_," Jazz spat at him, her anger still bubbling beneath her skin. Again, the use of his other name made his face fall into a scowl as he shook his head slowly.

"Nothing. Let's just...will he talk to us if you're in the room? We really must be speaking to Daniel," Vlad explained, collecting himself and looking around at everyone in the room once more.

"Sure, Tucker and I have to be there but it'll be ok," Jazz sent a pointed glare to everyone in the room before turning around and taking a few steps back towards the door.

"And where are you going, young lady?" Maddie asked, her voice breathy and soft, as if she was trying to restrain herself.

"To get him and Tucker in here. Sam's in trouble and we have to act quick, right?" Jazz asked, an eyebrow popping up at the end of her question.

"Yeah, ok," Jack said, his voice strained as he nodded slowly at Jazz. "Go ahead."

Jazz turned with one final huff, closing the door behind her once more as she left. After a few strangled moments, the three teens finally returned, Danny still in his ghost form and floating close to the ceiling.

"Danny—" Maddie began, her voice soft as she offered her ghostly son a small smile. Danny, in response, turned to Jazz with a look of distress painted on his glowing features.

"Mom, we need to focus on the task at hand," Jazz said carefully.

"Mom? She's your mother?" Danny asked Jazz, just loud enough to echo through the small room.

"I...yeah, she's ou— she's my mom," Jazz stuttered sadly, looking up at Danny as his face twisted into a look of confusion.

"Oh," Danny looked back at Maddie, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

"That's not important right now," Vlad spoke, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Daniel, we need your help finding Sam. Can you help us with that?"

Danny nodded skeptically, fear still bubbling under his features as he eyed the other half ghost. "I can, I think. That thing...it really hates me. We can use that — catch it off guard."

"Oh?" Vlad asked, eyebrows popping up in premeditated surprise. "Willing to play dirty, I presume?"

Danny's features darkened as he floated closer into the corner, like a wounded animal. "I'll do whatever it takes to save Sam. She's— I just need to...yeah. Anything it takes to get her back."

Vlad nodded slowly, his expression twisting into something even he didn't recognize. "Alright then. Let's get to work. What exactly do you remember?"

"Um...I...things got complicated after the torture..." Danny muttered slowly, closing his eyes as he shook his head carefully.

"_Torture_?!" Jack exclaimed, shaking the room and causing Danny to press himself farther into the corner. Upon realizing how loud he was, the large ghost hunter sighed, rubbing the anxiety out of his eyes. "Sorry. Sorry...just...torture? It _tortured_ you?"

Danny's eyes scanned the orange-clad man skeptically, nodding slowly as he exhaled a breath he didn't need to be holding. "Yeah, that's what it said it was doing," his breath was soft as he exhaled the words quietly.

"Daniel, you need to keep going," Vlad explained shortly, shooting a pointed look at Jack before softening his gaze and turning it back to Danny. "For Sam. Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah ok," Danny nodded, giving himself a bit of room away from the corner, but still floating against the ceiling defensively. "Well, it's all a little jumbled and...but I think she might have...I don't know, traded me?"

"Traded you?" Maddie asked, her brows furrowing as she looked at Danny gently. "For what?"

"For herself, I think," Danny grabbed his head, shaking it as his eyes glowed brighter for half a second. "Or, uh, I don't know. It's really blurry. But I think she gave herself up so that thing would let me go and..."

"...and?" Tucker urged gently, drawing Danny's attention down the the supportive nature of his friend. Tucker gave him a small nod, offering a small smile.

"...and that's all I remember," Danny finished with a huff, his shoulders slumping as he drifted lower in the air. "Well, besides waking up with Ember and Skulker like we talked about, and then there was everything that _thing_ showed me."

"I'd like to hear about that," Maddie said, taking a step towards Danny. She deflated when he moved away from her, drifting instinctually towards Jazz instead.

"There's no time," Danny breathed out, his words echoing against the cold metal interior of the cockpit. "We have to save Sam."

"Right. Well, I've been picking up this weird ecto-signature from you, and I think it might be that thing. If we could just track it...we'd be able to find it and get Sam out of there," Tucker explained, tapping away on his PDA erratically. Danny floated down behind him, looking over his shoulder at the numbers and calculations.

"Jeez, I forgot how smart you are," Danny let a small laugh escape from his lips, licking them gently as his expression hardened again. He looked over to Jack and Maddie, then over to Jazz, as though having a revelation. "I guess I forgot a lot, huh?"

"Yeah, you did," Jazz said slowly — carefully — like she was talking to an animal about to run away. "And we can talk about all of that. _Later_. But right now we need to get that ecto-signature analyzed, right Tucker?"

"Right. Vlad, I'm gonna need your help. Danny, are you ok if it's just him and me and you?" Tucker asked, looking up from his PDA and turning back to his friend. Danny nodded slowly, eyes shifting towards Vlad as he swallowed sand.

"Yeah, as long as you're there, Tuck," Danny seethed, his eyes flashing brightly at Vlad before they softened, turning back to Tucker.

"Ok. Then we should probably get started, before it's too late," Tucker explained, moving across the room to Vlad with the calculations in his hands.

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_I've got a grand total of 5-6 more chapters until this story is done (again, I'm still debating on how to format the epilogue/ending). I'm really excited for the way I end it - I think it pulls together all the elements I've laid out and gives a really good moral, which I'm excited for :)_**

**_As far as a sequel goes, I know I got a review saying you'd be interested. I'm debating on a few paths I could go, but once I figure out what I'm thinking, I'll be sure to let all of you know!_**

**_I will be updating this Saturday as well, so be ready for that! I'm really excited to show y'all what's been in the works, and I really hope you're all enjoying the story this far!_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

* * *

Sam attempted to open her eyes, only for them to be yanked closed by some external force. She let a soft groan escape her lips, a deep, pulsating ache working its way through her body. It rested in her bones, growing and shifting with every breath. She tensed up as it settled over her heart, each agonizing throb fighting against her heartbeat for dominance.

"Don't resist it, my love," a tinny, metallic voice echoed around her mind. "The harder you fight, the more pain you'll be in. It's better if you don't resist, just accept."

Sam writhed in pain, her body instinctually going rigid as her eyes attempted to flutter open. Again, they were held shut, a dark red force resting just over them.

"You promised you'd give in without a fight, darling. Don't you remember? I need you to remember," its voice grew steadily harsher before softening slightly. "Just let me in. It's rather easy, don't you agree? To just let me take complete control."

Sam whimpered as the ache spread outward from her heart, leaking into her bloodstream like someone had just pooped a water balloon full of poison. She squirmed, feeling the lead-like fluid course through her veins, settling in even her fingers and toes now. As it spread, it brought with it a heavy, tingling feeling. It grew slowly, leaving Sam unable to move anymore.

"That's it. Just let me in, my queen. The sooner you give in, the sooner we can rule together," its voice was somehow gentler now, more caring. Sam could feel the innocence of the emotion in her core, and a newfound part of her craved to return the sentiment. "Rest now, my love, for tomorrow we will be one."

With one final breath, Sam felt herself sinking down into the dark red energy cascading around her, mind blanketed in its voice as it continued to coo to her.

* * *

"Danny's afraid of us," Maddie looked right at Jazz, her eyes welling with tears. The two had stayed in the cockpit while Vlad, Tucker, and Danny had gone into the loading bay to get some readings. With some convincing, Jack went with them, assuring them that he knew how to read ecto-signatures and that he'd be needed. Danny had been the one to relent, strangely enough. He seemed curious of the larger, orange-clad man.

"Mom, he's just afraid," Jazz explained, a bit of an edge still lingering in her tone. While she was usually the empathetic one, she was having a hard time sparing her mother any sympathy in the moment. After everything that had happened, she had a hard time blaming herself.

"But of us, Jasmine. His…his _parents_," Maddie wrapped her arms around herself, drawing her knees close to her chest and letting her forehead rest on them. Jazz had never seen her mother in such a vulnerable position, and it made her a little uncomfortable. "We're supposed to be there for him, no matter what. And instead, we…we fought him. We threatened him. And that's all he remembers, after everything…"

"Mom," Jazz relented, taking a seat next to her mother and abandoning her standing position near the door, "he's in shock. He's traumatized. You can't blame him for what he does or doesn't remember. Hell, you can't blame yourself, either. It's just what happens. It's how the human brain works, you know. We tend to remember the negative — the trauma — way more than we remember the good times."

"Human…" Maddie repeated in a hushed tone, shaking her head against her knees before looking back up at her daughter. With a start, Jazz realized her mother was crying. "Is he even _human_ anymore?"

"Mom!" Jazz said, her soft tone filled with confusion.

"I don't mean— your father and I, we love him either way, Jazz. You have to understand that. But is it so bad to wonder what he is? Is he human anymore? Is he alive?" Maddie shrank into herself, a small whimper escaping her lips.

Jazz let out a long sigh, thinking about what to say to that. In all honesty, she'd found herself asking the same questions when she first found out about Danny. While the curiosity had faded over time, the questions still stood; who — what — had her brother become? A ghost? A spirit? Or was he still just a normal human, hiding under a skin tight ectoplasmic suit? None of them really knew. Jazz didn't think Vlad even knew the answers, and he had run tests on himself for years.

"I don't know. But does it matter?" Jazz asked softly, watching her mother's eyes peak up at her hesitantly.

"I already told you, Jac— your father and I don't care. We love Danny, no matter what," Maddie explained tiredly.

"I know you do," Jazz sent her mother a small smile before she turned her attention to the still blinking lights of the control board. "I'll be honest with you, mom. I wondered the same things right away when I found out. But then I realized that that kind of curiosity — that kind of hunger — isn't what Danny needs. It's sure as hell not what Tucker and Sam need, either. These kids…these _teens_, they need support. Danny's stable, and that's all we need to focus on for right now. The way I figure it, when Danny's ready to know the answers to those questions, he'll ask. Until then, we just have to be patient with him — with all of them."

Jazz's attention was drawn back to her mother when she heard a small sniffling sound. Turning to her, she realized that her mother had started crying harder now, head completely buried in her knees. "You're r- right," the mother's soft voice came out quietly. "We've been such awful parents. You're doing such a good job at…being there for him. For them. I just wish…I had a chance to prove I can be there too."

Jazz's heart sank, her breath catching in her throat as she watched her mother begin to sob. Jazz laid a hand over her shoulder, drawing her in for a tight hug. "Mom, hey, it's ok. I'm sorry. We got Danny back, and we'll get Sam back. After that, we'll all sit down and figure this out. You're going to get that chance, I promise."

"I- ok, alright," Maddie sighed, throwing her arms around her daughter and letting another gentle sob escape her lips. "Thank you, Jazz. I'm so sorry, and thank you."

"Y- yeah," Jazz swallowed her own sob, instead opting to hug her mother tighter. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too."

* * *

"It looks like the foreign ecto-signature attached to Daniel is coming from within the vortex, which we already knew," Vlad explained while he typed away on the laptop he'd brought into the loading bay with him.

"But if we go into the vortex," Tucker began asking, tapping away on his own PDA as a plethora of numbers and equations flashed across the screen, "will we be able to find the thing? Or will the ecto-signature just show up all around us?"

"That would make sense, unless Danny-boy spent enough time with that _thing_ to have its ecto-signature cling to him," Jack explained, looking over Vlad's shoulder before hesitantly looking back up at Danny, who was still floating against the ceiling defensively.

"I, uh, think I spent a lot of time with it. Or at least near it. Does that help?" Danny asked in a small voice, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze fluttered down to Tucker.

"It does," Tucker spared a look up at his best friend, flashing him an excited smile. "Because if my readings are correct, you've got two foreign ecto-signatures coming off of you."

"_Two_?!" Jack asked, eyes going wide as his gaze met Tucker's. The larger man jumped over to the teen, looking at the calculations on the screen before letting out an erratic laugh. "By God, Danny! You've got three ecto-signatures coming off of you right now! _Three_! The level of integration on a molecular level…I can't believe it!"

Danny pushed himself farther into the corner as Jack yelled in excitement, his brain sending him flashes of the images the thing had shown him. Conversations from earlier swirled around his head, causing his entire body to shake. He had a haunch of who this man was, but he didn't want to jump the gun, either. Deciding it was better to keep quiet for the time being, Danny found himself gulping back an uneasy question, instead floating a bit farther out into the room, just above Tucker.

"That's good, right?" Danny asked, his heart sinking when Jack looked up at him instead of Tucker.

"It's great! It means that we can isolate them and find that thing right away," Jack said excitedly, oblivious to the fearful look in Danny's bright green eyes.

"It means we can find Sam right away," Tucker explained, looking up from his PDA and to his friend, who shot him a horrified look. Tucker immediately picked up on it, lowering his PDA and sending him a look of concern. "Maybe you guys should go run the calculations, or put the ecto-signatures in the Speeder's tracking program. The sooner we get going, the sooner we find Sam and get her out of there, yeah?"

"Sure! Vladdie, let's go check on the girls and put this in," Jack said, still completely oblivious to the newfound tension in the room.

Vlad, on the other hand, picked up on the nervous edge in Tucker's tone immediately. The elder half-ghost turned to Tucker before looking up to meet Danny's petrified gaze. His expression fell into something unrecognizable for half a second before he regained his composure, clearing his throat and turning back to Jack. "Indeed. The sooner we track down the thing that did this, the sooner we stop it. Let's go input the data, and we'll come up with a plan on the way there," Vlad explained, turning on his heal and leaving the room, laptop in hand. Jack followed shortly after, rambling about the scientific anomaly as the door closed behind them with a _thud_.

"Hey, dude, you ok?" Tucker asked Danny the moment the door closed, turning to his floating best friend as he lowered himself nearly to the ground.

"I…don't know," Danny sighed, now right next to Tucker as his feet lingered only about an inch off of the ground. "That man — Jack — I know him, don't I?"

Tucker's brows furrowed as he contemplated how to answer his friend's question. "You have kind of a memory of him and your— and Maddie from before, right?"

"Yeah, but…I know them both from something else. A lot of something else, I think. I think I'm supposed to know more than just that memory," Danny explained, his voice shaking with realization. He turned his attention back to Tucker, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Danny—" Tucker started.

"Don't say it," Danny wiped the tears away before they could fall, turning away as he regained his composition. "I can't deal with it now. Not with Sam…you know…"

"Yeah, I get it," Tucker sighed, watching his friend as he turned back to him. "But when you're ready to know, I'll be there, ok?"

Danny nodded slowly, fingers fiddling with themselves idly in front of him. Tucker had never seen him fiddle with his fingers when he was nervous. He found himself wondering if it was a new nervous habit, like how Danny usually played with his hair. Tucker shook that thought away — now wasn't the time to focus on such a small habit.

"What if I don't ever want to know," Danny breathed the words gently, as if he was afraid someone might hear him through the door. Tucker paused, his blood running cold for a moment before he was able to shake himself out of it.

"Then we'll…we'll figure it out. It'll be alright, Jazz and I will make sure of it. And so will Sam, once we get her back," Tucker explained, smiling as he watched some of the tension drain from Danny's shoulders.

"Ok, goo—" Danny started, only to be interrupted by the door opening suddenly. Before he could even think, Danny found himself glued to the ceiling once more, moving slowly towards the corner once again.

"Danny! Tucker! We've got coordinates thanks to Maddie. Come in here so we can figure out a plan!" Jack said, his head poking into the room before he pulled away, the door closing with another deep _thud_.

"Ok, you ready?" Tucker asked, eyeing his friend again with a gentle smile.

"Do I have a choice?" Danny asked jokingly, watching as Tucker's features dropped in response. "Kidding! Sorry, just a joke. Uh, yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

Tucker's expression recovered, a soft smile falling on his features. "Ok, good. Let's go, then."

* * *

**_Hey all! What do you think?_**

**_First off I wanted to thank lena.smith.106 specifically for reviewing every chapter. It means so much to me, thank you for your constant support!_**

**_As well, I do want to let everyone know that there are about 4-5 chapters left in this story (again, I'm still deciding on how to end it). I'll try and stick to uploading a few times a week, but there might also be a bit of a delay this upcoming week as I have a few papers due as well as some other commitments I've made._**

**_So what do you all think will happen? Let me know in a review - I read all of them and they really do mean a lot. Also, thank you to everyone who favorites and follows. It really does matter to me, so thank you :)_**

**_Until next time, my dudes,_**

**_~Ash_**


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